AUTHOR=N’dilimabaka Nadine , Mounguegui Dieudonné Mounguegui , Lekana-Douki Sonia Etenna , Yattara Marisca Kandet , Obame-Nkoghe Judicaël , Longo-Pendy Neil Michel , Koumba Ingrid Precilya Koumba , Mve-Ella Octavie Lauris Banga , Moukouama Schedy Koumba , Dzembo Cresh Emelya , Bolo Lauriane Yacka , Biyie-Bi-Ngoghe Prudence , Mangouka Guignali Laurette , Nzenze Jean-Raymond , Lekana-Douki Jean-Bernard 

TITLE=Biochemical and hematological factors associated with COVID-19 severity among Gabonese patients: A retrospective cohort study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2022.975712

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2022.975712

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=The COVID-19 disease presents a large range of clinical manifestations and includes asymptomatic, mild, and severe cases. The level of severity is related to parameters associated with immunity, genetics, and biochemistry. Africa shows one of the lowest COVID-19 fatality rates but very few data on the biochemical markers of COVID-19 in patients and the factors associated with disease severity are available for the continent. In Gabon, the COVID-19 fatality rate is only 0.63% but almost no data on biomarkers in COVID-19 patients have been published. Both the number of COVID-19 cases and the mortality rate reported in Africa in general, and in Gabon in particular, are lower than in non-African countries. As such, understanding the factors associated with disease severity in Gabonese patients is a crucial step to better understand the disease in the African context and prepare for future COVID-19 waves and other epidemics of emerging diseases. 
In this study, we compared biochemical and hematological markers among Gabonese COVID-19 patients with asymptomatic, mild/moderate, and severe/critical forms of the disease. We modeled these parameters together with comorbidities, age, and sex to predict factors associated with disease severity. Our results show that age and the dysfunction of organs like the kidney, liver, and lung together with the decrease of electrolytes (chloride, potassium, and sodium) are the best predictors of disease severity in Gabonese patients.