Aim: Fibrinogen and albumin are proteins that play a role in inflammation. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the role of fibrinogen, albumin, and fibrinogen/albumin ratio (FAR) levels as markers of disease severity and prognosis in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Material and Methods: Seventy-one patients aged between 19 and 84 years diagnosed with COVID-19 who were hospitalized in Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital, Neurology Department between March and May 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. Fibrinogen, albumin, FAR, D-dimer, platelet, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels of the patients were compared according to the length of hospitalization duration, survival, and clinical severity of COVID-19. Results: Twenty-eight (%39.4) of the patients were male and 43 (%60.6) were female, and the mean age was 55.7±20.7 years. There was a significant difference between the groups of COVID-19 clinical severity in terms of age, fibrinogen, albumin, FAR, D-dimer, and CRP values (all p values were <0.001). Also, significantly higher fibrinogen, FAR, D-dimer, and CRP values were found in patients hospitalized longer, while the albumin level was lower in these patients (all p values were <0.001). FAR values were higher and albumin values were lower in non-surviving patients compared to surviving patients (p=0.025 and p<0.001, respectively). Conclusion: FAR levels may be useful in predicting mortality risk in COVID-19 patients. In addition, it may be helpful and useful in determining the prognosis since it has higher levels as the severity of the disease and the length of hospital stay increase.

We aimed to investigate the content of Covid-19 news in the media before and after the declaration of the first Covid-19 case in Turkey, as well as the compatibility of their medical massages with World Health Organisation (WHO) data. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, Covid-19 news in Turkey's most visited webpages of five newspapers and five internet news sites was examined retrospectively for two months categorized as the periods of one month before and one month after the first Covid-19 case declaration in Turkey. The news was evaluated according to their content, sources, content and headline compatibility, evidence and accuracy levels in terms of WHO reports, its potential to evoke social negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, panic, and to produce negative bias against China. Statistical analysis was performed by using the SPSS 21 program and the results were expressed as numbers and percentages. Results: It was determined that in total of 7915 news, the most content was about the protection and prevention methods. In the news before and after the first case declaration in Turkey, the content-headline incompatibility rates were 50,8% and 1,1%; incompatibility rates of the medical information in the news with WHO reports were 7,1% and 2,9%; the rates of referencing were 74,3% and 66,9%, the rates of the news having the potential to produce anxiety and fear in the reader were 56,9% and 19,6% and to produce prejudice and negative attitudes towards China were 19,7% and 4,6%, respectively. Conclusions: It seems that the declaration of the first Covid-19 case changed the news making pattern of the media to a more responsible behaviour for the public. We suggest that it is a rational approach to use the power of the media correctly in enhancing public awareness towards Covid-19 pandemic.