BMC Infectious Diseases (Feb 2021)

Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients out of Wuhan from China: a case control study

  • Hua Zhang,
  • Feng Du,
  • Xiao-jun Cao,
  • Xia-long Feng,
  • He-ping Zhang,
  • Zheng-xia Wu,
  • Bao-Feng Wang,
  • Hong-juan Zhang,
  • Rui Liu,
  • Jian-jun Yang,
  • Bo Ning,
  • Kai Chen,
  • Zhen-peng Huang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-05897-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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Abstract Background A large-scale global outbreak of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) out of Wuhan, from China, occurred in January 2020. To examine the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in infected patients out of Wuhan, from China. Methods Thirteen patients were confirmed to be infected with novel coronavirus-2019 (2019-nCoV) between January 27 and February 8, 2020, in Baoji city, Shannxi, northwestern China. Epidemiological and clinical information, and computed to morphology imaging data from all COVID-19 patients were collected; cases were divided into two groups according to the severity of infection (mild or severe). Results Nine (9/13) COVID-19 patients exhibited mild disease severity, and defined as second-generation human-to-human transmission cases. Most patients (11/13) had a history of travel to or from Wuhan. There were no differences in sex and age between the mild and severe cases (all P > 0.05). A moderate degree of fever (11/13), cough (13/13), and fatigue (8/13) were common symptoms; however, there was no statistical difference between mild and severe cases in this regard (all P > 0.05). Oxyhemoglobin saturation and oxygenation index decreased, and C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) levels were elevated in all patients with COVID-19 infection, with statistically significant differences between those with severe disease and mild infection (all P < 0.05). Twelve of 13 COVID-19 patients exhibited changes in chest CT imaging features, and time course changes were different between mild and severe cases (all P < 0.05). Conclusion Most cases of COVID-19 infection were second-generation human-to-human transmissions from Wuhan and were mild in severity. The clinical characteristics of COVID-19 varied. Oxyhemoglobin saturation, oxygenation index, CRP and SAA levels, and CT features were reliable parameters to evaluate the severity of COVID-19 infection. However, a few patients with mild COVID-19 disease lacked typical characteristics such as fever and changes in CT imaging features.

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