Abstract:

Introduction: Crimean-Kongo hemorrhagic fever (CKHF) has pulled attention in recent years due to its high mortality rate. Objective: To investigate the effect of the inflammatory process in Crimean-Kongo hemorrhagic fever on the complete blood count parameters. Material and Methods: A total of 5260 patients who had presented to theemergency room of our hospital due to tick contact between 01 January 2010 and 31 December 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. Serological examination yielded 40 positive and 40 negative results for 80 cases with suspicion of CKHF. Forty healthy volunteers constituted the control group. All of the complete blood cell count parameters that were examined on admission were compared separately with the patient and the control group. Results: When CKHF positive and negative patient groups were compared with the control group, the neutrophil, red cell distribution width (RDW), mean platelet volume (MPV), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) values were found to be significant in the CKHF-positive group only. However, the lymphocyte and the platelet values were found to be significant in both groups (p≤0.01). Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that complete blood count parameters, which are inexpensive, easy and widely used, may be useful for the diagnosis of Crimean-Kongo hemorrhagic fever in the emergency room.

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