Abstract:
Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with clustering of novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) in Nantong.
Methods The retrospective single-center research method was used to collect the general data of 15 cases of clustered COVID-19 patients isolated in Nantong Third People's Hospital from January 27 to February 17, 2020. According to the cluster epidemic investigation and analysis, we divided patients into five groups, and analyzed their epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, laboratory and imaging characteristics.
Results Of the 15 patients, 7 were male and 8 were female.The age range was 27 to 67 years old. The average age of the patients in the five groups were (47.33±14.38), (51.50±5.50), (65.00±1.00), (52.00±1.79), and (57.33±12.28) years old. The average incubation period were (3.00±1.41)d, (5.50±0.50)d, (5.00±0.00)d, (9.20±4.26)d, (8.67±4.11)d. 1(6.7%) patient was light, 13(86.7%) were normal, and 1(6.7%) was severe. Common symptoms included fever (13 cases, 86.7%), fatigue (14 cases, 93.3%), cough (9 cases, 58.7%), dyspnea (6 cases, 40%). The main underlying disease was hypertension, and the liver damage was the main complication. 1(6.7%) case didn't have any clinical manifestations. All of the patients had decreased lymphocyte counts. The CD4+T lymphocyte counts, CD8+T lymphocyte counts, and B lymphocyte counts decreased and the average lymphocyte counts of three groups decreased significantly. Infection indicators such as C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and ferritin were generally elevated, and procalcitonin (PCT) was normal. Except for a slight increase in aspartate aminotransferase (AST), liver function was normal. The lactic acid level was high. The oxygenation index decreased significantly in one group (20%). The imaging changes were mainly bilateral lesions without pleural effusion.
Conclusions The cases of COVID-19 in Nantong are mainly clustered in families. They tend to be middle-aged and elderly, and often co-exist with chronic diseases and hypertension. Liver damage is the main complication, which is basically common. Clinical manifestations are fever, fatigue, and cough. Laboratory tests show that blood lactate levels are high, T-lymphocyte counts are significantly reduced, and the rest remain unchanged.