The Role of Fever Clinics in the Strategic Triage of Suspected Cases of Imported COVID-19

Abstract

Hui Jia,1,* Yuele Chang,1,* Long Zhao,1 Yunxia Li,1 Lei Chen,1 Qian Zhang,1 Xianzhi Lou,2 Chenwei Li,2 Shuyue Xia1 1Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Shenyang Central Hospital Affiliated to Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, 110000, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Infectious Disease, Shenyang Central Hospital Affiliated to Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, 110000, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Shuyue XiaDepartment of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Shenyang Central Hospital Affiliated to Shenyang Medical College, No. 5 Of Nanqi West Road, Tiexi District, Shenyang, 110000, People’s Republic of ChinaTel [phone]Email [email protected]: Novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory infectious disease, which has the characteristic of human-to-human transmission and is extremely contagious. Correctly standardizing the process of early screening of infection or suspected cases in the fever clinic has become a key part of the fight against the pandemic.Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients in the fever clinic of Shenyang Medical College Affiliated Central Hospital from January 23 to March 1, 2020, was conducted in the present study.Results: It was found that 16 suspected cases of COVID-19 in the fever clinic were diagnosed with respiratory infections, accounting for 0.59%.Conclusion: In case of a negative result in the second nucleic acid test, strategic triage and typing might be more conducive for the following nucleic acid tests for suspected cases in order to prevent the spread of the epidemic caused by missed diagnosis.Keywords: COVID-19, infection control, epidemic prevention and control, work process, fever clinic

Keywords

• covid-19
• infection control
• epidemic prevention and control
• work process
• fever clinic