ABSTRACT
Background and Aim of the study: In the course of the epidemic,COVID 19 disease first appeared severely and then with a gradualreduction in symptoms. Aim of the study was to compare the clinical characteristics of patients hospitalized in two different periodsfrom March to May.Materials and Methods: 174 patients, 161 subjects admitted inthe period March 17 / April 17 and 13 subjects admitted in theperiod April 17 / May 17, at the Covid Unit of F. Miulli Hospital inAcquaviva delle Fonti (Ba), were studied.Results: From the comparison of the two periods, there is a clearreduction in hospitalizations (161 vs 13). The number of asymptomatic or mildly complicated patients is significantly greater inthe second group. The rate of patients hospitalized with severepneumonia (19.9%) or ARDS (6.8%) in the first period is higherthan the patients of the second period (7.7% and 0%). In March/ April, 3.1% of patients needed ICU admission while no patientwas admitted to ICU in the past thirty days. The length of stay wasalso significantly higher in the first period (21 ± 8 days vs 8 ± 2days) as well as mortality (14% vs 11%). IL 6, d-dimers and fibrinogen values were lower (but not statistically significant) in theApril / May period.Discussion and Conclusions: Our sample, although of limitedsize, shows a significant difference in the clinical evolution of theCOVID 19 infection in the two study periods. The reduction inlength of stay, severe respiratory failure and mortality indicate alikely attenuation in coronavirus virulence in the last month of thepandemic spread.
ABSTRACT
Background and Aim: As of 22 June 2020, Italy had 238.499cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) infections, with about 35.000 deaths. A single-center observational cohort study was conducted to evaluate epidemiological, demographic, clinical and laboratory data of SARS-CoV-2patients who were admitted to the sub-intensive therapy unit ofthe COVID Unit Hospital F. Miulli (Acquaviva delle Fonti, Bari, Italy),from Mar 17, 2020 to May 17, 2020.Materials and Methods: Demographic data, symptoms, laboratory values, comorbidities, treatments, and clinical outcomes wereall collected and analysed. Results: A total of 143 SARS-CoV-2 patients, 60.4% males, meanage 68 yrs , were included. Twenty-seven patients (19%) had clinical signs of severe pneumonia and 6.3% had an ARDS, ICU admissions were 2.9%. The most represented comorbidities were:chronic heart failure (10.3%), diabetes (15.5%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (17.8%), cancer (13.2%), kidney chronicfailure (28.2%). The used drugs have been distributed as follows:lopinavir/ritonavir (30.4%), hydroxychloroquine (67.8%), steroid(21.2%), tocilizumab (4%). Length of stay was 21 days and theaverage negative time of the second nasopharyngeal swab was18 days. In our study, a total of 20 patients (13.9%) died, withmean age 86 yrs .Conclusions: Our findings show that SARS-CoV-2 infection maybe severe, requiring intensive care admission, expecially in olderpatients and in those with comorbidities.