• Kaleem Ullah Toori, Muhammad Arsalan Qureshi, Asma Chaudhry, and Muhammad Farhan Safdar.
• Dr. Kaleem Ullah Toori, FRCP (Glasgow). Department of Medicine, KRL Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan.
• Pak J Med Sci. 2021 Sep 1; 37 (5): 1435-1439.

ObjectivesTo identify association of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio with disease severity and mortality.MethodsTotal 720 Corona Virus RT-PCR positive patients were included in this cross-sectional study. Patients were admitted to KRL Hospital Islamabad from April 2020 to August 2020. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was recorded on admission and then serially. NLR cut-off was 3.0. WHO categories for disease severity (asymptomatic, mild, moderate and severe) were used. Demographic profile, symptoms and co-morbidities were recorded.ResultsThe mean age of patients was 40 ± 12.4 years with 96% being males. Majority patients (76.5%) were asymptomatic. Amongst symptoms, fever was the most common symptom. Diabetes mellitus was most common recorded co-morbidity. The mean NLR 2.5 ± 2.78. Significant association was found between NLR and disease severity as well as mortality. Difference in mean NLR amongst disease severity categories was also significant.ConclusionResults are compatible with worldwide studies and NLR is a cheap and easily available marker of disease severity and mortality.Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.

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