Armaghane Danesh Bimonthly Journal (Apr 2022)
Patients with Down Syndrome in the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)
Abstract
Background & aim: Coronavirus (COVID-19) is an infectious disease of the respiratory system that has been identified by the World Health Organization as an epidemic. Patients with Down syndrome are more likely to develop Covid 19 disease with more severe complications due to their comorbidities. The aim of this study was to determine the status and severity of the disease in patients with Down syndrome in the corona virus pandemic (COVID-19). Methods: The present descriptive-prospective and applied study was conducted in 2021 on 111 patients with COVID-19 in the age range of 20-40 referred to hospitals in southwestern Iran whose disease was confirmed by CT scan and RT-PCR. Fifteen patients with Down syndrome and 96 patients were considered as a control group. First, the demographic variables of all patients were studied and recorded, and then the clinical and clinical information related to Covid-19 was evaluated and recorded. The collected data were analyzed using Chi-Square and T-test statistical tests and P less than 0.05 was considered as a significant level. Results: In the present study, 15 patients with Down syndrome with COVID-19 infection (mean age 26.14 11 11 years) and 96 Covid-19 patients with control group (mean age 38.34 23 23.2 years) were studied. In the group with Down syndrome, there were 9 males and 6 females, and in the control group, 54 males and 42 females. Further studies to determine the final status of patients were found that in patients with Down syndrome the rate and percentage of hospitalization in the intensive care unit 8 (53%), intubation 7 (45%), hospital discharge 7 (45%) and mortality 8 (54%) In the control group, the rate and percentage of hospitalization in the intensive care unit was 4 (4%), intubation was 4 (4%), hospital discharge was 92 (92%) and mortality was 4 (4%) (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the present study indicated that due to immune system disorders and physical and clinical aspects of people with Down syndrome, there is a concern that these patients are more at risk of death from coronavirus than other people in the community. Therefore, more care and supervision by their caregivers to prevent infection with the Covid-19 virus, adequate care by the treatment staff in hospitals in case of hospitalization, and placing these people in the priority of receiving vaccination is highly required. It can also help raise awareness of infectious diseases and pandemics that may occur in the future.
