loading page

Clinical characteristics and progression of COVID-19 confirmed cases admitted to a single British clinical centre-a brief case series report
  • +4
  • joanne conway,
  • anna gould,
  • richard westley,
  • suneil raju,
  • anja oklopcic,
  • alex broadbent,
  • Ahmed Hafiz
joanne conway

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
anna gould
Author Profile
richard westley
Author Profile
suneil raju
Author Profile
anja oklopcic
Author Profile
alex broadbent
Author Profile
Ahmed Hafiz
Author Profile

Abstract

Objectives: In December 2019, a pneumonia like illness was first reported in Wuhan-China caused by a new coronavirus named corona virus disease -2019 (COVID-19) which then spread to cause a global pandemic. Most of the available data in the literature is derived from Chinese cohorts and we aim to contribute the clinical experience of a single British clinical centre with the characteristics of a British cohort. Design: A prospective case series. Setting: A single clinical centre in the UK. Methods: We have collected the demographics and medical characteristics of all COVID-19 positive cases admitted over two-week period. All cases were diagnosed by PCR. Results: Total of 71 COVID-19 patients were included in this case series. Majority of patients (75%) were ≥75 years old and 58% were men. Pre-existing comorbidities was common (85% of patients). Most patients presented with respiratory symptoms such as fever (59%), shortness of breath (56%) and cough (55%). Gastrointestinal symptoms were second most common presenting compliant such as diarrhoea (10%) and abdominal pain (7%). Opacification in chest X-rays were demonstrated in 45% of patients. All patients received supportive treatment and no specific antiviral therapy was administered in this cohort. So far, 18 (25%) patients have fully recovered, 9 patients (13%) escalated to a higher level of care and 10 (14%) have died. Patients who died were non-significantly older than those who have recovered (78.0 v 69.2 years, p=0.15) but they had a significantly higher clinical frailty scores (5.75 v 3.36, p=0.005). Conclusion: This case series demonstrated that the characteristics of British COVID-19 patients were generally similar to what is published in literature although we report more gastrointestinal symptoms at presentation. We have identified frailty as a risk factor for adverse outcome in COVID-19 patients and suggest that it should be included in the future vaccination recommendations.
25 Apr 2020Submitted to International Journal of Clinical Practice
30 Apr 2020Assigned to Editor
30 Apr 2020Submission Checks Completed
01 May 2020Reviewer(s) Assigned
18 Sep 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
21 Oct 2020Editorial Decision: Accept
Mar 2021Published in International Journal of Clinical Practice volume 75 issue 3. 10.1111/ijcp.13807