Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has been widely spread. We aim to investigate the clinical characteristic and allergy status of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Methods Electronic medical records including demographics, clinical manifestation, comorbidities, laboratory data, and radiological materials of 140 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, with confirmed result of SARS-CoV-2 viral infection, were extracted and analyzed. Results An approximately 1:1 ratio of male (50.7%) and female COVID-19 patients was found, with an overall median age of 57.0 years. All patients were community-acquired cases. Fever (91.7%), cough (75.0%), fatigue (75.0%), and gastrointestinal symptoms (39.6%) were the most common clinical manifestations, whereas hypertension (30.0%) and diabetes mellitus (12.1%) were the most common comorbidities. Drug hypersensitivity (11.4%) and urticaria (1.4%) were self-reported by several patients. Asthma or other allergic diseases were not reported by any of the patients. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, 1.4%) patients and current smokers (1.4%) were rare. Bilateral ground-glass or patchy opacity (89.6%) was the most common sign of radiological finding. Lymphopenia (75.4%) and eosinopenia (52.9%) were observed in most patients. Blood eosinophil counts correlate positively with lymphocyte counts in severe (r = .486, P Conclusion Detailed clinical investigation of 140 hospitalized COVID-19 cases suggests eosinopenia together with lymphopenia may be a potential indicator for diagnosis. Allergic diseases, asthma, and COPD are not risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Older age, high number of comorbidities, and more prominent laboratory abnormalities were associated with severe patients.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/all.14238

Clinical characteristics of 140 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, China.

Prevalence, risk factors, and management of asthma in China: a national cross-sectional study

Rapid socioeconomic progress has greatly affected the lifestyle in China. Consequently, owing to lifestyle changes, urbanization, and accelerated population aging, the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has increased. The incidence of CVD has been increasing continuously and this upward trend is projected to continue in the next decade. The growing burden of CVD has become a major public health issue. Accordingly, since 2005, the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases of China has directed experts in cardiology, neurology, nephrology, diabetes, epidemiology, community healthcare, health economics, biostatistics, and other related fields to prepare the annual Report on Cardiovascular Diseases in China. This report aims to provide a timely review of the growing epidemic of CVD in the country as well as to assess the progress made in its prevention and control. We present herein an updated summary of the Report on Cardiovascular Diseases in China 2018 that includes trends in CVD, the morbidity and mortality of CVD, risk factor assessment, health resources for CVD, and a profile of medical expenditure.

China cardiovascular diseases report 2018: an updated summary

Trends in smoking prevalence and implication for chronic diseases in China: serial national cross-sectional surveys from 2003 to 2013.

Risk factors for predicting mortality in elderly patients with COVID-19: A review of clinical data in China.

Prevalence and risk factors of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in China (the China Pulmonary Health [CPH] study): a national cross-sectional study.

Chung-Shiuan Chen

Papers

Prevalence and risk factors of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in China (the China Pulmonary Health [CPH] study): a national cross-sectional study.