Clinical and epidemiologic profile of the initial COVID-19 patients at a tertiary care centre in India.

The objective of this work is to report the initial experience with epidemiologic and clinical features, as well as with the management of COVID-19 patients in India. This is a descriptive case series of the first 21 COVID-19 infected patients confirmed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and admitted to a tertiary care centre in India from 01.02.2020 to 19.03.2020. Clinical, laboratory, and radiologic data were collected, including age, sex, nationality, travel history, symptoms, duration of stay, and comorbidities. The mean age of the population was 40.3 years with a male preponderance. Thirteen (62%) patients had recent travel history outside India in the previous 30 days, two thirds of whom had travelled to Italy. The most common symptoms were fever and cough (42.9%) followed by sore throat, headache and breathlessness. Vital and laboratory parameters were preserved in all patients and none of them required ventilatory support. Among the first 21 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 infection in India, the typical clinical presentation consisted in a mild upper respiratory tract infection predominantly affecting the young male population. One patient required supplemental oxygen. All patients recovered with no residual symptoms.   *The Safdarjung Hospital COVID 2019 working group: Nitesh Gupta, Sumita Agrawal, Pranav Ish, Suruchi Mishra, Rajni Gaind, Ganapathy Usha, Balvinder Singh, Manas Kamal Sen, Shibdas Chakrabarti (Consultant and Head, Pulmonary Medicine); NK Gupta (Pr...
Source: Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease - Category: Respiratory Medicine Tags: Monaldi Arch Chest Dis Source Type: research