Essential Emergency and Critical Care: A Priority for Health Systems Globally.

Critical illness is a state of ill health with vital organ dysfunction, a high risk of imminent death if care is not provided, and the potential for reversibility. An estimated 45 million adults become critically ill each year. While some are treated in emergency departments or intensive care units, most are cared for in general hospital wards. We outline a priority for health systems globally: the first-tier care that all critically ill patients should receive in all parts of all hospitals: Essential Emergency and Critical Care. We describe its relation to other specialties and care and opportunities for implementation.

Prevalence of pneumonia by chest x-ray, associated demographic characteristics and health risk factors among COVID-19 patients in Ghana.

OBJECTIVE: The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of radiologically diagnosed pneumonia among COVID-19 patients and associated factors. DESIGN SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A retrospective manual data extraction of 275 medical records of COVID-19 patients was conducted at two COVID-19 national treatment centres in Accra from March to May 2020. All patients had a chest x-ray done. MAIN OUTCOME AND ANALYSIS: The main outcome was the presence of pneumonia. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test of independence were employed to determine the associations between independent variables and the presence of pneumonia. All analysis was performed using Stata 16, and a p-value ≤ 0.05 was deemed significant. RESULTS: The prevalence of pneumonia was 44%(95%CI) =38.2-50.0). Chi-square independent test indicated that pneumonia in the COVID-19 patients was associated with educational level, history of domestic and international travel, mass gathering in the past 14 days before diagnosis, and discharge plan (p-value< 0.05). Patients classified as secondary cases (61.5%) and those discharged as fully recovered from the health facility (61.2%) had a higher prevalence of pneumonia. In addition, COVID-19 patients with hypertension (32.1%) and asthma (5.2%) had a significantly higher prevalence of pneumonia. CONCLUSION: Overall, the prevalence of pneumonia was 44% and was associated with the demographic and personal characteristics of the patients. Early detection through contact tracing and community surveillance should be intensified to pick up more asymptomatic cases. The role of the chest x-ray for triaging patients and for clinical management of symptomatic patients remains key. FUNDING: None declared.

Atypical presentation of COVID-19 in a patient with type 2 diabetes at an urban primary care facility in Accra, Ghana.

This is a case report of a 55-year-old man with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus who presented with progressive breathlessness, chest pain and hyperglycaemia. An initial impression of a chest infection was made. Management was initiated with antibiotics, but this was unsuccessful, and he continued to desaturate. A screen for Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) returned positive. There was no prodrome of fever or flu-like illness or known contact with a patient known to have COVID-19. This case is instructive as he didn't fit the typical case definition for suspected COVID-19. There is significant community spread in Ghana, therefore COVID-19 should be a differential diagnosis in patients who present with hyperglycaemia and respiratory symptoms in the absence of a febrile illness. Primary care doctors must have a high index of suspicion in cases of significant hyperglycaemia and inability to maintain oxygen saturation. Patients known to have diabetes and those not known to have diabetes may develop hyperglycaemia subsequent to COVID-19. A high index of suspicion is crucial for early identification, notification for testing, isolation, treatment, contact tracing and possible referral or coordination of care with other specialists. Early identification will protect healthcare workers and patients alike from cross-infection.

Clinical features of COVID-19 in Ghana: symptomatology, illness severity and comorbid non-communicable diseases.

OBJECTIVE: This analysis described the clinical features of COVID-19 in the early phase of the pandemic in Ghana. METHODS: Data were extracted from two national COVID-19 treatment centers in Ghana for over 11 weeks(from March to May 2020). Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed. Modified Ordered Logistic and Negative Binomial Regression analysis were applied to establish factors associated with illness severity and Non-communicable Disease (NCDs) counts respectively. All analysis was conducted at the 95% confidence level (p-value ≤ 0.05) using Stata 16. RESULTS: Among the 275 patients, the average age was 40.7±16.4, with a preponderance of males (54.5%). The three commonest symptoms presented were cough (21.3%), headache (15.7%), and sore throat (11.7%). Only 7.6% of the patients had a history of fever. Most patients were asymptomatic (51.65). Approximately 38.9% have an underlying co-morbid NCDs, with Hypertension (32.1%), Diabetes (9.9%), and Asthma (5.2%) being the three commonest. The odds of Moderate/severe (MoS) was significantly higher for those with unknown exposures to similar illness [aOR(95%CI) = 4.27(1.12-10.2)] compared with non-exposure to similar illness. An increased unit of NCD's count significantly increased the odds of COVID-19 MoS illness by 26%[cOR(95%CI) =1.26(1.09-1.84)] and 67% (adjusting for age) [aOR(95%CI)=1.67(1.13-2.49)]. CONCLUSION: The presence of cardiovascular co-morbidities dictated the frequency of reported symptoms and severity of COVID-19 infection in this sample of Ghanaians. Physicians should be aware of the presence of co-morbid NCDs and prepare to manage effectively among COVID-19 patients. FUNDING: None declared.

Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the first cohort of COVID-19 recoveries at two national treatment centres in Accra, Ghana.

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 is a new disease, knowledge on the mode of transmission and clinical features are still evolving, new tests are being developed with inherent challenges regarding interpretation of tests results. There is generally, a gap in knowledge on the virus globally as the pandemic evolves and in Ghana, there is dearth of information and documentation on the clinical characteristics of the virus. With these in mind, we set out to profile the initial cohort of COVID-19 patients who recovered in Ghana. METHODS: We reviewed clinical records of all confirmed cases of COVID-19 who had recovered from the two main treatment centres in Accra, Ghana. Descriptive data analysis was employed and presented in simple and relational tables. Independent t-test and ANOVA were used to determine differences in the mean age of the sexes and the number of days taken for the first and second retesting to be done per selected patient characteristics. RESULTS: Of the 146 records reviewed, 54% were male; mean age of patients was 41.9 ± 17.5 years, nearly half were asymptomatic, with 9% being severely ill. The commonest presenting symptoms were cough (22.6%), headache (13%) and sore throat (11%) while the commonest co-morbidities were hypertension (25.3%), diabetes mellitus (14%) and heart disease (3.4%). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 affected more males than females; nearly half of those infected were asymptomatic. Cough, headache and sore throat were the commonest symptoms and mean duration from case confirmation to full recovery was 19 days. Further research is required as pandemic evolves. FUNDING: None declared.