Five biomarkers of COVID-19 disease severity and mortality [22, 39] differed significantly between PP group and controls: C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, LDH and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) fell significantly, while lymphocyte count increased significantly in the PP group as compared with controls (Fig. 4E–I). The gene discussed is CRP; the disease is COVID-19.