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Wuhan, China, substantially is the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019. Coronavirus, the confounder virus, a zoonotic in origin was the causative agent of the disseminated disease worldwide. Structural similarities and convergence points were demonstrated between the coronavirus, SARS, and MERS viruses. Aberrantly, a subset of patients developed a serious acute respiratory distress syndrome or diffuse alveolar injury whereas the rest of the patients encountered mild or no symptoms. The pathological clinical laboratory findings are not only critical in the diagnosis of the COVID-19 infection, on the contrary, but they are also crucial in the prognostic predictions about disease prognosis and therapeutic response. This review aims to give some historical context for the pandemic, demonstrate the laboratory's important role in the screening of COVID-19 infection, and review the current phase of biomarker examination in COVID-19 infection, focusing on markers derived directly from the hematological laboratory, reflecting the implications of COVID-19 on the hematological system and coagulation pathways. In conclusion, there is a direct significant correlation between infection severity, the death rate in COVID-19 patients, and the low number of either WBCs or a high number of WBCs with a low number of lymphocytes.

During the past four decades, the number of children diagnosed with specific language impairment (SLI) has been increased. The factors contribute to SLI are not completely identified; therefore, more studies consensus on the pathophysiological etiologies of this disorder is essential. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the levels of 5 essential minerals: iron (Fe), potassium (K), manganese (Mn), magnesium (Mg), and zinc (Zn) in addition to 9 heavy metals: aluminum (Al), barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), lithium (Li), lead (Pb), indium (In), and strontium (Sr) in the scalp hair samples of 39 Jordanian children diagnosed with SLI compared with their 37 healthy control children aged 4 to 7 years. Hair samples were cut, acid digested, and analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results revealed that Zn level was significantly lower in hair samples of SLI group as compared to the control group (p = 0.02). In SLI group, a significant positive correlation was noted between Zn and Mn (p = 0.04), Al and Li (p = 0.05), as well as Fe and Mn (p < 0.001). These findings would be useful for increasing the understanding of SLI etiology. More elemental studies of larger sample size could participate in future development of therapies that could decrease SLI related symptoms. Also, profiling of elements in hair could provide a nutritional tracking tool with a larger time window that guide the supplementation with essential elements for children with SLI as therapeutic tool.