The need of close monitor of the patients infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) in one designated medical institutions in Chengdu: a single-center, retrospective, observational study (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Objective: To study the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients in one designated medical institutions in Chengdu. Methods: 20 patients admitted to one hospital in designated medical institutions in Chengdu with laboratory confirmed SARS-Cov-2 infection. Data were collected from 26 January 2020 to 1 March 2020. Clinical data were collected using Self-constructed questionnaire refer to World health organization nCoV CASE RECORDFORM Version 1.2 28JAN2020. If information was not clear, The team will review the original data from the designated computer. Results: Of the 20 COVID-19 infected patients studied (median age 42.5 years), 4 patients became severe sick and one was critical deteriorated in the process of treatment, they were later transferred to the superior medical institutions for treatment. This patient died after admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). The other two mild patients remained positive for pharyngeal swabs of SARS-Cov-2 more than 3 weeks, so they were quarantined in a medical facility without medication. All studied cases were infected by human to human transmission without taking protective measures. It requires further confirmation of transmission through contact within families. The most common symptoms at onset of illness were fever in 13 (65%) patients, cough in 9 (45%), headache in 3 (15%), fatigue in 6 (30%), diarrhoea in 3 (15%), and Abdominal pain in 2 (10%). Six patients (30%) developed shortness of breath on admission. The median time from exposure to onset of illness was 6.5 days (interquartile range 3.25-9 days), and from the onset of symptoms to first hospital admission was 3.5(1.25-7) days. Conclusion: Up to the end of February 2020, compared with patients initially infected with SARS-Cov-2 in Wuhan, the symptoms of patients in this study was relatively mild and the patients are easily cured and discharged from hospital. the patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19 is general type of patients infected with SARS-Cov-2 in China. However, The COVID-19 is a self-limiting disease with no effective drug to treat it, it is important to detect and identify severe cases from mild cases early.