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KMID : 1143420210140030104
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Public Health Weekly Report
2021 Volume.14 No. 3 p.104 ~ p.112
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Clinical Information Analysis of Characteristics of COVID-19 Patients by Severity in Chungnam Province, Korea
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Jo Da-Hye
Lim Ji-Ae
Seo Jeung-Eun
Cheon Young-Hee
Jeong Seung-Hee
Kang Gi-Seok
Choi Dong-Kwon
Kim Jin-A
Kwon Ho-Jang
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Abstract
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Chungnam, a province in Korea, had its first confirmed case of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) infection since February 2020. It has observed a rapid growth in infections that continue to cause shortages of hospital resources such as hospital beds in the region. This study was conducted to identify the risk factors affecting the severity of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) with the aim of better responding to future pandemics and more wisely and effectively allocating resources. Data came from both clinical records through healthcare facilities and primary epidemiological investigations in Chungnam, a province in Korea, during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data included 175 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 out of 189 confirmed cases from February 18 to July 27, 2020. Of the total confirmed patients, 78.5% were patients with mild symptoms while 21.5% were patients with moderate or severe symptoms. The underlying medical conditions were hypertension (41.0%), hyperlipidemia (17.9%), diabetes (12.8%), cancer (10.3%), other (7.7%), respiratory disease (5.1%), and thyroid disease (5.1%). The results from clinical records showed that the risks of moderate or severe levels of severity were 3.69 times higher among men, 12.3 times higher among patients over 65 years old, 14 times higher among patients with pneumonia, and 5.23 times higher among patients with underlying medical conditions. According to the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test from the epidemiological investigations, the mean cycle threshold (CT) values for the envelope (E) gene (rSARS-CoV-DeltaE) and the RdRp gene, the laboratory test for COVID-19, were statistically significantly lower in patients with moderate and severe symptoms than for those with mild symptoms. The average hospital stay among patients with mild symptoms and moderate and severe symptoms was 19.06 days and 24.32 days, respectively. Given that Chungnam has seen an increase in local outbreaks as of December 16, 2020 and that the number of patients who tested positive continues to rise, it is critical that epidemiologists consider the results of this study, particularly when developing classification criteria by severity.
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KEYWORD
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2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19), Symptoms, Clinical Severity, Epidemiological Investigations
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