Clinical and epidemiological characterization of COVID-19 in the first four weeks of the pandemic
Abstract
Introduction: COVID-19 (disease caused by the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus) was detected for the first time in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
Objective: to describe some clinical and epidemiological variables of COVID-19 patients during the first four weeks of the pandemic.
Methods: a cross-sectional descriptive study was developed whose universe was the total number of patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 in Ciego de Ávila province, during the first four weeks of the pandemic. The following variables were analyzed: case criteria, age, sex, origin municipality, reported symptoms, chronic diseases, and clinical course of COVID-19. Summary measures were percentages and absolute frequencies.
Results: 63,41 % of the 82 confirmed cases were close contacts of patients with confirmed or suspected infection. The most affected were between 25 and 29 years old (21,95 %); among patients aged 60 years and over, the proportion was 15,85 %. Most were female. There were transmission events in four municipalities, with a predominance of asymptomatic infected people. The most reported symptoms were: fever, cough and sore throat. Arterial hypertension (4,88 %) and diabetes mellitus (6,10 %) were the most frequent chronic diseases. In the majority, the infection evolved favorably; two patients died.
Conclusions: COVID-19 spreads rapidly within the community. The study provided a clinical and epidemiological characterization of the disease, useful to execute immediate actions by health decision-makers in the province, as well as to develop prevention strategies in the communityDownloads
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