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ecstatic

(32,566 posts)
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 10:09 PM Dec 2021

The Complete Blood Count test shows how likely you are to get severe COVID-19 disease progression

Last edited Fri Dec 3, 2021, 11:26 PM - Edit history (1)

I had a CBC with Differential/Platelet done at LabCorp the other day and their reports now show a ratio, "Neut/Lymph Ratio," which is calculated by dividing your Neutrophils (Absolute) number by your Lymphs (Absolute) number. If the result is 0.0 to 2.9, studies suggest a LOW likelihood of severe COVID-19 disease progression. If the result is greater than 4.9, that indicates a HIGH likelihood of severe COVID-19 disease progression. FYI.

ETA:
Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, a critical predictor for assessment of disease severity in patients with COVID-19 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33099889/

And a boatload of articles here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=neutrophil-to-lymphocyte+ratio+covid-19

33 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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The Complete Blood Count test shows how likely you are to get severe COVID-19 disease progression (Original Post) ecstatic Dec 2021 OP
Interesting. Could be very helpful info. tanyev Dec 2021 #1
Interesting Sanity Claws Dec 2021 #2
The wording from the lab report ecstatic Dec 2021 #5
Yes a link to the likelihood relationship study would be helpful. Thanks! nt Pobeka Dec 2021 #3
LabCorp didn't include one, but there are so many articles on it in pubmed: ecstatic Dec 2021 #9
Thanks for this! DrToast Dec 2021 #20
Mine is 3.3 marybourg Dec 2021 #4
Okay... this is really fascinating Dorian Gray Dec 2021 #6
Yes. Post 9! nt ecstatic Dec 2021 #12
"0.0 to 2.9" ?? Disaffected Dec 2021 #7
it's just a range. 0 doesn't have to be an actual value you can obtain. Takket Dec 2021 #10
You are probably correct Disaffected Dec 2021 #13
lol. Mine was 0.9 ecstatic Dec 2021 #11
I take adderal I_UndergroundPanther Dec 2021 #21
Yikes! That's a scary thought. ecstatic Dec 2021 #23
2017 study link ARPad95 Dec 2021 #8
I don't see that in my routine blood tests iemanja Dec 2021 #14
If you had a complete blood count (CBC), you should have a number and/or percentage for ARPad95 Dec 2021 #15
It's not on there iemanja Dec 2021 #17
I guess the "differential" part covers that? ecstatic Dec 2021 #19
Couldn't find my absolute neutrophils woodsprite Dec 2021 #16
Did they give a percentage of lymphs too? ecstatic Dec 2021 #18
No. One was one unit, the other a different unit. :( woodsprite Dec 2021 #22
You really fucked up my night... albacore Dec 2021 #24
2.1 is good! DrToast Dec 2021 #28
Not panicked at all... just wondering if I missed anything. nt albacore Dec 2021 #31
OMG what a bunch of NERDS we are . . . Maru Kitteh Dec 2021 #25
LOL!! ecstatic Dec 2021 #26
Interesting. n/t NH Ethylene Dec 2021 #27
One thing gives me pause. Aren't these tests being conducted on hospitalized patients with retread Dec 2021 #29
I don't know if it's standard practice to specifically seek out those numbers, ecstatic Dec 2021 #33
Very interesting nt Sunsky Dec 2021 #30
Mine's 2.6, I had a CBC done two weeks ago. róisín_dubh Dec 2021 #32

ecstatic

(32,566 posts)
5. The wording from the lab report
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 10:31 PM
Dec 2021

Test - Current Result and Flag - Units - Reference Interval
Neutrophils (Absolute)  - 0.9 Low - x10E3/uL - 1.4-7.0
Lymphs (Absolute) - 1.0 - x10E3/uL - 0.7-3.1
Neut/Lymph Ratio - 0.9 - ratio - 0.0-2.9
Published COVID-19 studies suggest:
Low likelihood of severe COVID-19
disease progression 0.0-2.9
High likelihood of severe COVID-19
disease progression >4.9

ecstatic

(32,566 posts)
9. LabCorp didn't include one, but there are so many articles on it in pubmed:
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 10:40 PM
Dec 2021

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, a critical predictor for assessment of disease severity in patients with COVID-19 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33099889/

And a boatload of articles here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=neutrophil-to-lymphocyte+ratio+covid-19

Dorian Gray

(13,469 posts)
6. Okay... this is really fascinating
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 10:32 PM
Dec 2021

thank you for sharing.

Do you have access to any literature on the subject that I could read to further explain the phenomenon?

Disaffected

(4,507 posts)
7. "0.0 to 2.9" ??
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 10:34 PM
Dec 2021

How could you ever get a result of 0.0 (or even close to that)? To get 0, your Neutrophils would have to be 0 and, your Lymphocytes could be any non-zero value.

Takket

(21,424 posts)
10. it's just a range. 0 doesn't have to be an actual value you can obtain.
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 10:41 PM
Dec 2021

They could have just said "less than or equal to 2.9" and it would mean the same thing.

ecstatic

(32,566 posts)
11. lol. Mine was 0.9
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 10:42 PM
Dec 2021

My adhd medication drives my neutrophils down pretty low, but it's sort of a pseudo-lowering because I haven't had so much as a common cold in at least 10 years.

I_UndergroundPanther

(12,450 posts)
21. I take adderal
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 11:29 PM
Dec 2021

And I too haven't had a cold in forever.
Last thing I had with cold like symptoms was double pneumonia
I had a fever but forgot what a fever feels like.
So it was pretty bad when I finally realized I was seriously sick. The patient first place gave me an IV of antibiotics and told me if the symptoms got any worse
to go to the ER right away.

ecstatic

(32,566 posts)
23. Yikes! That's a scary thought.
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 11:42 PM
Dec 2021

I'm glad you recovered. Even though I haven't had a cold or flu in 10 years, I assume that if I were to catch something, it would be really bad based on my low neutrophil count.

ARPad95

(1,671 posts)
8. 2017 study link
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 10:37 PM
Dec 2021
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5217256/

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has proven its prognostic value in cardiovascular diseases, infections, inflammatory diseases and in several types of cancers. However, no cut-off has been proposed on the basis of reference values coming from healthy population.


Conclusions
We have identified that the normal NLR values in an adult, non-geriatric, population in good health are between 0.78 and 3.53. These data will help to define the normal values of the NLR.



My NLR from my CBC in September is 1.399 (%) or 1.42 (Absolute?). I'm in my early 60s.

ARPad95

(1,671 posts)
15. If you had a complete blood count (CBC), you should have a number and/or percentage for
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 10:58 PM
Dec 2021

Neut
Lymp

%Neu
%Lym

At least that's how they're shown on my lab report. Then just divide the Neut # by the Lymp # to get the ratio.


ecstatic

(32,566 posts)
19. I guess the "differential" part covers that?
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 11:25 PM
Dec 2021


Update: I found out that the test MUST have differential in order to see the neutrophils and lymph counts.

CBC without differential counts the total number of white blood cells.
CBC with differential. There are five kinds of white blood cells. The differential looks at how many of each kind of white blood cell you have.


There are five types of white blood cells:

Neutrophils: Help protect your body from infections by killing bacteria, fungi and foreign debris.
Lymphocytes: Consist of T cells, natural killer cells and B cells to protect against viral infections and produce proteins to help you fight infection (antibodies).
Eosinophils: Identify and destroy parasites, cancer cells and assists basophils with your allergic response.
Basophils: Produces an allergic response like coughing, sneezing or a runny nose.
Monocytes: Defend against infection by cleaning up damaged cells.

woodsprite

(11,853 posts)
16. Couldn't find my absolute neutrophils
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 11:00 PM
Dec 2021

I did find my absolute lymph (1.6 no), but they only showed automated neutrophils (63%) so couldn’t figure it out. This was a test from 11/12 while I was still doing chemo.

ecstatic

(32,566 posts)
18. Did they give a percentage of lymphs too?
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 11:19 PM
Dec 2021

I think you can divide the percentage values too, but there's a very slight difference due to rounding.

albacore

(2,387 posts)
24. You really fucked up my night...
Sat Dec 4, 2021, 12:06 AM
Dec 2021

I just had to get involved reading about this crap.... and I ain't all that bright.

What I think I read is that the NLR is a good predictor for all serious disease, not just Covid, and I think that a higher NLR means Covid will hit you harder than if you have a lower ratio.

I'm 78 and male with a cow valve in my heart and a pacemaker, so my NLR of 2.1 sounds good, comparatively.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC5217256/

retread

(3,752 posts)
29. One thing gives me pause. Aren't these tests being conducted on hospitalized patients with
Sat Dec 4, 2021, 10:41 AM
Dec 2021

covid-19? How relevant are the conclusions to people without Covid?

ecstatic

(32,566 posts)
33. I don't know if it's standard practice to specifically seek out those numbers,
Sat Dec 4, 2021, 03:07 PM
Dec 2021

but it definitely should be.

It looks like the neutrophils/lymphs ratio can be relevant to people without COVID based on previous studies that show how the NLR correlates with various diseases but from my understanding, there is no defined cut-off number for other conditions like there is for covid-19. ARPad95 links to a study about it in Post 8.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5217256/

róisín_dubh

(11,784 posts)
32. Mine's 2.6, I had a CBC done two weeks ago.
Sat Dec 4, 2021, 12:04 PM
Dec 2021

I had extremely mild covid in July despite being double vaxxed.

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