Clinico-epidemiological characteristics of asymptomatic and symptomatic COVID-19-positive patients in Bangladesh (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Background: As of August 15, 2020, Bangladesh lost 3591 lives since the first Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case announced on March 8. The objective of the study was to report the clinical manifestation of both symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19-positive patients. Methods: A online-based cross-sectional survey was conducted for initial recruitment of participants with subsequent telephone interview by the three trained physicians in 237 adults with confirmed COVID-19 infection in Bangladesh. The study period was between 27 April to 26th May, 2020. Consent was ensured before commencing the interview. Collected data were entered in a predesigned case report form and subsequently analyzed by SPSS 20. Results: The mean age at presentation was 41.59 (13.73 SD) years and most of the cases were male (73%). A total of 90.29% of patients reside in urban areas. Among the positive cases, 13.1% (n=31) were asymptomatic. Asymptomatic cases were significantly more common in households with 2 to 4 members (p=.008). Both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients shared similar ages of presentation (p=0.23), gender differences (p=0.30), and comorbidities (p=0.11). Only 5.3% of patients received ICU care during their treatment. The most frequent presentation was fever (88.3%), followed by cough (69.9%), chest pain (34.5%), body ache (31.1%), and sore throat (30.1%). Thirty-nine percent (n=92) of the patients had comorbidities, with diabetes and hypertension being the most frequently observed. Conclusion: There has been an upsurge in COVID-19 cases in Bangladesh. Patients were mostly middle-aged and male. Typical presentations were fever and cough. Maintenance of social distancing and increased testing are required to meet the current public health challenge.