Clinical and Transmission Characteristics of Covid-19 - A Retrospective Study of 25 Cases from a Single Thoracic Surgery Department.

ABSTRACT

The outbreak of corona virus disease 2019 (Covid-19) imposes a major challenge in managing patients undergoing surgical operation. In this study, we analyzed clinical and transmission features of 25 cases of Covid-19 from a single thoracic department, including 13 patients and 12 health care staff. There were 13 males and 12 females. The median age of the patients was 61 (range 51 to 69) years. The median age of the health care staff was 35 (range 22 to 51) years. By the end of follow-up date (Mar. 3, 2020), there were 16 non-severe cases (64%) and 9 severe cases (36%), 5 cases were dead (20%). Nineteen (76%) of the infected cases were confirmed by SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test, the rest were clinically diagnosed as suspected Covid-19 cases, and 19 (76%) of the infected cases had positive exposure history. We found that COPD was significantly associated with severity and death (P=0.040, and P=0.038, respectively), and chest operation was significantly associated with death for Covid-19 patients (P=0.039). A potential "super spreader" may be the source of the transmission before the implementation of quarantine and comprehensive protection. It was concluded that Covid-19 is associated with poor prognosis for patients undergoing thoracic operation, especially for those with COPD. Implementation of comprehensive protective measures is important to control nosocomial infection.