ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: We compared the clinical characteristics, findings, and outcomes of hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or influenza to detect relevant differences. METHODS: From December 2019 to April 2020, we recruited all eligible hospitalized adults with respiratory infection to a prospective observational study at a tertiary care hospital in Finland. Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infections were confirmed by RT-PCR. Follow-up lasted for 3 months from admission. RESULTS: We included 61 patients, of whom 28 were COVID-19 and 33 influenza patients with median ages of 53 and 56 years. Majority of both COVID-19 and influenza patients were men (61% vs. 67%) and had at least one comorbidity (68% vs. 85%). Pulmonary diseases and current smoking were less common among COVID-19 than influenza patients (5 [18%] vs. 15 [45%], p=.03 and 1 [4%] vs. 10 [30%], p=.008). In chest X-ray at admission, ground-glass opacities (GGOs) and consolidations were more frequent among COVID-19 than influenza patients (19 [68%] and 7 [21%], p<.001). Severe disease and intensive care unit (ICU) admission occurred more often among COVID-19 than influenza patients (26 [93%] vs. 19 [58%], p=.003 and 8 [29%] vs. 2 [6%], p=.034). COVID-19 patients were hospitalized longer than influenza patients (six days [IQR 4-21] vs. 3 [2-4], p<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Bilateral GGOs and consolidations in chest X-ray may help to differentiate COVID-19 from influenza. Hospitalized COVID-19 patients had more severe disease, required longer hospitalization and were admitted to ICU more often than influenza patients, which has important implications for public health policies.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/epidemiology , Cardiovascular Diseases/epidemiology , Diabetes Mellitus/epidemiology , Influenza, Human/epidemiology , Orthomyxoviridae/pathogenicity , SARS-CoV-2/pathogenicity , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/mortality , COVID-19/virology , Cardiovascular Diseases/diagnosis , Cardiovascular Diseases/mortality , Cardiovascular Diseases/virology , Comorbidity , Diabetes Mellitus/diagnosis , Diabetes Mellitus/mortality , Diabetes Mellitus/virology , Female , Finland/epidemiology , Hospitalization , Humans , Incidence , Influenza, Human/diagnosis , Influenza, Human/mortality , Influenza, Human/virology , Intensive Care Units , Male , Middle Aged , Prospective Studies , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Severity of Illness Index , Survival Analysis , Tertiary Care Centers , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
We describe an epidemic of tuberculosis of occupational origin in five healthcare workers, which originated from a patient with tuberculous peritonitis. The source of the infection was not revealed until one year after the patient's death. Over 300 workers were exposed to tuberculosis. Up-to-date microbiological molecular technology was applied to the investigation of the infection among the exposed workers. This was the first time that an electronic reporting system for biological exposures was utilized for the investigation of an epidemic. Within this epidemic it is assumed that another five workers will develop a symptomatic tuberculosis infection during their lifetime.
Subject(s)
Cross Infection/epidemiology , Disease Outbreaks , Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional , Peritonitis, Tuberculous/epidemiology , Peritonitis, Tuberculous/transmission , Autopsy , Finland/epidemiology , HumansABSTRACT
We report the first documented case of bacteremia caused by Asaia bogorensis in a young patient with a history of intravenous-drug abuse. A. bogorensis was identified by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene. The isolate was exceptionally resistant to almost all antibiotics that are routinely tested for gram-negative rods but was susceptible to netilmicin, gentamicin, and doxycycline.
