Table 3 Summary of comparison of cell counts of total WBCs, total lymphocytes, and lymphocyte subsets in severe COVID-19 and severe influenza A cases in the first week of illness with healthy donors group two

WBC(*10⁹/L)

median (IQR)

6.05 (5.09,6.75)

4.55 (2.70,6.93)

5.99 (3.99,8.10)

1.091

0.275

0.014

0.989

1.054

0.292

LY(*10⁹/L)

median (IQR)

1.74 (1.41,2.04)

0.81 (0.63,1.03)

0.87 (0.56,1.42)

3.219

0.001

5.616

0.000

0.154

0.878

T cell count (cells/mm³), median (IQR)

1198 (1030,1507)

461 (388,477)

474 (357,747)

3.29

0.001

6.848

0.000

0.505

0.613

CD4⁺ count (cells/mm³), median (IQR)

645 (528,891)

288 (202,329)

283 (169,406)

3.29

0.001

6.404

0.000

0.242

0.809

CD8⁺ count (cells/mm³), median (IQR)

460 (363,716)

144 (72,229)

201 (138,305)

3.147

0.002

5.900

0.000

1.296

0.195

CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio, median (IQR)

1.43 (1.00,2.14)

2.15 (0.96,5.09)

1.32 (0.99,1.89)

0.966

0.334

0.577

0.564

1.187

0.235