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©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of fifty-six cases of COVID-19 in Liaoning Province, China
Jing-Bo Wang, Hai-Tao Wang, Lei-Shi Wang, Lu-Ping Li, Jiao Xv, Chun Xv, Xing-Hai Li, Yun-Hai Wu, Hong-Yan Liu, Bai-Jun Li, Hong Yu, Xia Tian, Zhi-Yu Zhang, Yan Wang, Rui Zhao, Jin-Yang Liu, Wei Wang, Ye Gu
Jing-Bo Wang, Lei-Shi Wang, Jiao Xv, Chun Xv, Xing-Hai Li, Hong-Yan Liu, Bai-Jun Li, Hong Yu, Xia Tian, Yan Wang, Rui Zhao, Wei Wang, Ye Gu, Department of Infectious Disease, The Sixth People’s Hospital of Shenyang, Shenyang 110006, Liaoning Province, China
Hai-Tao Wang, Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang 110002, Liaoning Province, China
Lu-Ping Li, Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Sixth People’s Hospital of Shenyang, Shenyang 110006, Liaoning Province, China
Yun-Hai Wu, Department of Intensive Critical Medicine, The Sixth People’s Hospital of Shenyang, Shenyang 110006, Liaoning Province, China
Zhi-Yu Zhang, Jin-Yang Liu, Department of Infectious Diseases Clinic, The Sixth People’s Hospital of Shenyang, Shenyang 110006, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Wang JB, Wang HT, and Gu Y designed the research study; Wang HT and Gu Y provided administrative support; Li XH, Wu YH, Liu HY, Li BJ, Yu H, Tian X, Zhang ZY, Wang Y, Zhao R, Liu JY, and Wang W performed the research and provided clinical advice; Wang JB, Wang LS, Li LP, Xu J, Xu C, and Wang HT contributed to the analysis; Wang JB and Wang HT wrote the manuscript; All authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of The Sixth People’s Hospital of Shenyang.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was not obtained due to the urgent need for clinical data.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no financial relationships to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Ye Gu, MD, Chief Doctor, Department of Infectious Disease, The Sixth People’s Hospital of Shenyang, No. 85 Hepingnan Street, Shenyang 110006, Liaoning Province, China. gu3311@126.com
Received: May 12, 2020
Peer-review started: May 12, 2020
First decision: August 21, 2020
Revised: August 31, 2020
Accepted: September 22, 2020
Article in press: September 22, 2020
Published online: November 6, 2020
Processing time: 177 Days and 22 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
In December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) associated with the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan and spread quickly across China and world. The World Health Organization declared the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic a global health emergency. Other than its rapid transmission, the epidemiological, pathogenesis, and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 remain unclear.
Research motivation
By analyzing clinical cases, we summarized the risk factors, clinical manifestations, and curative treatment of COVID-19. More efforts will be needed to study the basic and clinical research related to the infection of SARS-CoV-2.
Research objectives
We analyzed the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Liaoning province, a Chinese region far north of Wuhan. The research would help provide measures for controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and clinical diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19.
Research methods
The clinical data of 56 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases due to 2019 novel coronavirus infection were collected from eight cities in Liaoning Province. Laboratory diagnosis was performed in the SARS-CoV-2 laboratory of Shenyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Epidemiological characteristics were analyzed. SPSS (version 26.0) was used for the statistical analysis of clinical, laboratory, and imaging data.
Research results
Most patients had resided in or traveled to epidemic area and had contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients. Fever and cough were the most common symptoms. The typical manifestations in lung computed tomography (CT) included bilateral ground-glass opacity and patchy shadows. Severe cases and critical cases were respectively 10 (17.9%) and 1 (1.8%). No deaths were reported.
Research conclusions
SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted among humans. This virus strain is highly infectious and more likely to affect males with underlying diseases. Most COVID-19 patients are mild cases or moderate cases. The risk factors for seriousness of the disease included old age, underlying diseases, significant lymphocytopenia, and serious lesions shown in lung computed tomography.
Research perspectives
More efforts will be needed to study the infection mechanism of SARS-CoV-2, early identification of severe cases, and effective treatments.
