key: cord-1031991-asqm0exx
authors: Liu, Xiao‐Ping; Guo, Mindy Ming‐Huey; Liu, Shih‐Feng; Kuo, Ho‐Chang
title: Comparison of laboratory data between children with COVID‐19 and influenza
date: 2021-01-15
journal: Kaohsiung J Med Sci
DOI: 10.1002/kjm2.12353
sha: 99848909c2c86488d824c93fc74b16ce862a5c16
doc_id: 1031991
cord_uid: asqm0exx

nan

The novel coronavirus has been designated as severe acute respira- were used to describe the measurement data that did not conform to the normal distribution. Nonparametric Mann-Whitney's U rank sum test was used for comparison between the two groups. N and percentage were used to describe the counting data, and Pearson chisquare test (χ 2 ) was used to compare the counting data. Multivariate analysis was then performed using multivariate logistic regression. We found that patients with COVID-19 had statistically lower levels of procalcitonin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and lactate dehydrogenase on univariate analysis; only AST was found to be statistically significant after multivariate analysis (Table 1) .

AST is an enzyme associated with amino acid metabolism and is found in a variety of cells including the liver, skeletal muscles, heart, kidneys, and brain. In a review article of 14 studies published in between December 11, 2019 and February 20, 2020, which examined the risk of liver dysfunction in COVID-19 patients, found that men were more likely to have elevated AST levels when compared to women, and that none of the children included in the review had elevated AST levels. 5 Our results also suggest pediatric patients with COVID-19 have lower AST levels when compared to those with influenza, which may reflect the degree of overall organ inflammation. 

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