Humoral immunity role in diagnosis of COVID-19 among people visited to a tertiary care hospital in Hilla City

Abstract

Background: Rapid diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection is an important tool to control its outbreak. Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate the spreading of COVID-19 and the immunological responses toward COVID-19 infection with qualitative determination of both IgM and IgG. Materials and Methods: The current work involved a total of 803 individuals. The study involved the use of Biozek COVID-19 antigen fast kit. Results: In this study, 487 (60.6%) were male, and 316 (39.4%) were female. Patients aged from 3 to 75 years. The majority of patients were located within the age group of 11–20 years. Significant correlation was obtained between chronic diseases and age of patients. In spite of that the majority of patients without chronic diseases, the patients that had those chronic diseases were exceeded 40 years old. A highly significant correlation between the presence of symptoms and the IgM level in the serum of patients. IgG level was found to be in a significant correlation with the previous COVID-19 infection (109 patients). Moreover, a significant correlation was reported between the level of IgG and chronic diseases (101 patients). Conclusion: Serological method is beneficial in detecting IgM and IgG for COVID-19 and has a crucial role in diagnosing symptomatic and even asymptomatic patients, encouraging the early treatment protocols in case of severely ill patients. It can assist in assessing the immunological behavior of patients.