From each participant, a sample of 4 ml of fresh venous blood was collected from the peripheral vein by the sterile venipuncture technique & drawn into a vacuumed purple top tube containing an anticoagulant. It was performed using a fully automated hematology analyzer. This test measures the amounts and sizes of red blood cells, hemoglobin, white blood cells, and platelets. It will be aggregated to arrive at one report. Hemoglobin is usually reported in units of grams per liter, or grams per deciliter. The analyzer counts red blood cells, reporting the result in units of 106 cells per microliter of blood or 1012 cells per liter, and measures their average size, which is called the mean cell volume and expressed in femtoliters or cubic micrometers. The total white blood cell count is usually reported in cells per microliter of blood, or 109 cells per liter. The platelet count can be reported in units of cells per microliter of blood, 103 cells per microliter, or 109 cells per liter.

It was measured quantitatively in human serum by Beckman-Coulter AU Analyzers (USA).

Sample preparation: 2 ml of blood in a sterile tube was centrifuged, then used immediately for CRP. C-reactive protein (CRP) is an annular (ring-shaped) pentameric protein found in blood plasma whose circulating concentrations rise in response to inflammation. Traditional CRP measurement only detected CRP in the range of 10 to 1,000 mg/L, whereas high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) detects CRP in the range of 0.5 to 10 mg/L.

It was done using the BD Bactec 9050 Blood Culture System (USA, Catalog No. 445800) instrument. A culture was considered positive if any organism was identified.

It was inserted through the nose and down the stomach after nebulization with hypertonic saline at 5% for 10 seconds. Suction was applied for up to 15 seconds to collect the swallowed sputum in a sterile container. A culture was considered positive if any organism was identified.