The association between blood eosinophil percent and bacterial infection in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Choi, Juwhan; Oh, Jee Youn; Lee, Young Seok; Hur, Gyu Young; Lee, Sung Yong; Shim, Jae Jeong; Kang, Kyung Ho; Min, Kyung Hoon

Biomarkers should be such that they are quick and easy to perform, and cost-effective despite medical and economic levels. However, CRP and procalcitonin are difficult to perform in all hospitals, including primary care hospitals. On the other hand, eosinophil test, belonging to complete blood count test, is easily accessible anywhere and is inexpensive. A disadvantage of using eosinophil as a biomarker is that there are many factors that affect eosinophils, such as hematologic disorders, cancer, allergy diseases, medications, and steroids. 31 In this study, patients with diseases that could affect eosinophil were initially excluded and the use of inhaled corticosteroids or oral steroid was analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis.