Background Since December 2019, when coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) emerged in Wuhan city and rapidly spread throughout China, data have been needed on the clinical characteristics of...

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Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China.

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study

An acute respiratory disease, caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, previously known as 2019-nCoV), the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread throughout China and received worldwide attention. On 30 January 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared the COVID-19 epidemic as a public health emergency of international concern. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2, since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2002 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012, marked the third introduction of a highly pathogenic and large-scale epidemic coronavirus into the human population in the twenty-first century. As of 1 March 2020, a total of 87,137 confirmed cases globally, 79,968 confirmed in China and 7169 outside of China, with 2977 deaths (3.4%) had been reported by WHO. Meanwhile, several independent research groups have identified that SARS-CoV-2 belongs to β-coronavirus, with highly identical genome to bat coronavirus, pointing to bat as the natural host. The novel coronavirus uses the same receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as that for SARS-CoV, and mainly spreads through the respiratory tract. Importantly, increasingly evidence showed sustained human-to-human transmission, along with many exported cases across the globe. The clinical symptoms of COVID-19 patients include fever, cough, fatigue and a small population of patients appeared gastrointestinal infection symptoms. The elderly and people with underlying diseases are susceptible to infection and prone to serious outcomes, which may be associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and cytokine storm. Currently, there are few specific antiviral strategies, but several potent candidates of antivirals and repurposed drugs are under urgent investigation. In this review, we summarized the latest research progress of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and clinical characteristics of COVID-19, and discussed the current treatment and scientific advancements to combat the epidemic novel coronavirus.

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The origin, transmission and clinical therapies on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak - an update on the status.

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak is evolving rapidly worldwide. Objective To evaluate the risk of serious adverse outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) by stratifying the comorbidity status. Methods We analysed the data from 1590 laboratory-confirmed hospitalised patients 575 hospitals in 31 province/autonomous regions/provincial municipalities across mainland China between December 11th, 2019 and January 31st, 2020. We analyse the composite endpoints, which consisted of admission to intensive care unit, or invasive ventilation, or death. The risk of reaching to the composite endpoints was compared according to the presence and number of comorbidities. Results The mean age was 48.9 years. 686 patients (42.7%) were females. Severe cases accounted for 16.0% of the study population. 131 (8.2%) patients reached to the composite endpoints. 399 (25.1%) reported having at least one comorbidity. The most prevalent comorbidity was hypertension (16.9%), followed by diabetes (8.2%). 130 (8.2%) patients reported having two or more comorbidities. After adjusting for age and smoking status, COPD [hazards ratio (HR) 2.681, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 1.424–5.048], diabetes (HR 1.59, 95%CI 1.03–2.45), hypertension (HR 1.58, 95%CI 1.07–2.32) and malignancy (HR 3.50, 95%CI 1.60–7.64) were risk factors of reaching to the composite endpoints. The HR was 1.79 (95%CI 1.16–2.77) among patients with at least one comorbidity and 2.59 (95%CI 1.61–4.17) among patients with two or more comorbidities. Conclusion Among laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19, patients with any comorbidity yielded poorer clinical outcomes than those without. A greater number of comorbidities also correlated with poorer clinical outcomes.

https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/erj/55/5/2000547.full.pdf

Comorbidity and its impact on 1590 patients with COVID-19 in China: a nationwide analysis.

A Descriptive Study

Background During the spring of 2013, a novel avian-origin influenza A (H7N9) virus emerged and spread among humans in China. Data were lacking on the clinical characteristics of the infections caused by this virus. Methods Using medical charts, we collected data on 111 patients with laboratory-confirmed avian-origin influenza A (H7N9) infection through May 10, 2013. Results Of the 111 patients we studied, 76.6% were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), and 27.0% died. The median age was 61 years, and 42.3% were 65 years of age or older; 31.5% were female. A total of 61.3% of the patients had at least one underlying medical condition. Fever and cough were the most common presenting symptoms. On admission, 108 patients (97.3%) had findings consistent with pneumonia. Bilateral ground-glass opacities and consolidation were the typical radiologic findings. Lymphocytopenia was observed in 88.3% of patients, and thrombocytopenia in 73.0%. Treatment with antiviral drugs was initiated in 108 patients (97.3%)...

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Clinical findings in 111 cases of influenza A (H7N9) virus infection

To the Editor: On March 31, 2013, the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China notified the World Health Organization of 3 cases of human infections with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus. These cases were caused by a novel virus that was identified by laboratory testing at the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on March 29 (1).

As of April 19, 2013, a total of 91 laboratory-confirmed human cases (17 deaths) of infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus were reported in 4 provinces in China (2). We report clinical features of 2 infected adults who died, 2 critically ill infected adults who recovered, and 1 infected child who had a mild case during this outbreak in Shanghai, China.

A 3.5-year-old boy had fever (39.5°C) for 3 days and mild rhinorrhea starting on March 31. He was admitted to a district pediatric outpatient clinic on April 1. At admission, the child was given oseltamivir for 5 days, even though signs and symptoms had resolved. Nasopharyngeal swab samples were positive by real-time PCR for avian influenza A(H7N9) virus. All symptoms resolved uneventfully by April 3, and CDC was notified that avian influenza A(H7N9) virus was identified in his respiratory sample. The patient was discharged on day 11 after illness onset.

The 4 adult patients were given diagnoses of severe pneumonia with shortness of breath, dyspnea, and marked hypoxia (Table). Duration from disease onset to severe illness was 5–7 days. At admission, the 4 patients with severe cases had decreased peripheral blood leukocyte counts and increased levels of aspartate aminotransferase; 3 had increased levels of lactate dehydrogenase (Table).



Table

Characteristics for 4 patients infected with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus, Shanghai, China*



All 4 adult patients had radiologically confirmed pneumonia and bilateral patchy alveolar opacities or diffused lobar consolidation with or without pleural effusion (Figure, Appendix). Findings on chest radiographs for severe cases requiring mechanical ventilation were consistent with those for acute respiratory distress syndrome.



Figure

Chest computed tomographic scans for 3 patients infected with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus, Shanghai, China. A) Patient 1, who died, showing extensive lung infiltrates at day 7 of illness onset. B) Patient 3, who had a severe case, showing partial rear ...



Among the 4 severe cases in adults, a 52-year-old woman (patient 1) and a 49-year-old man (patient 2) died from acute respiratory distress syndrome and multiple organ failure on days 14 and 10, respectively, after disease onset and 1–2 days after progression to respiratory failure. Two other patients showed improvement and were virus negative 6 and 4 days after antiviral treatment. After 23–24 days of treatment in an intensive care unit, the 2 patients with severe cases recovered and were discharged (Table).

The 2 patients who died were given methylprednisolone. Of the 2 patients who recovered, 1 was given a low dose of methylprednisolone for 1 week and the other was not given methylprednisolone. Although it is difficult to assess the role of glucocorticoids in treatment because of limited number of cases, caution is advised because of possible serious adverse events, including death, as reported for human infection with influenza A(H1N1) virus (4).

One of the adult patients reported exposure to poultry. The family of the child patient raised chickens and ducks, but these animals had no apparent disease, and cloacal swab specimens were negative for avian influenza A(H7N9) virus. One patient who died (patient 2) had frequent occupational exposure to poultry. Sixteen contacts of the child and 45 contacts of the 4 adult patients were monitored, and routine virologic sampling was performed. One contact (husband of patient 1) of a patient who died (Table) became febrile and was positive for avian influenza A(H7N9) virus on April 12 (day 24 after disease onset for patient 1); as of the date of this report, he was receiving treatment in an intensive care unit. However, it is difficult to tell if this is a case of human-to-human transmission or if both persons were exposed to infectious poultry. All remaining contacts had no symptoms and were negative for virus by PCR.

Several features of this avian influenza A(H7N9) outbreak are distinct from those of previous avian influenza outbreaks. Human infection with this virus showed a case-fatality rate of 18.7% (17/91), but this rate is not as high as that for avian influenza A(H5N1) virus (case-fatality rate 59%) (5).

Avian influenza A(H7N9) virus infection seems to cause more severe human illness than do other subgroups of H7 influenza A viruses (subtypes H7N2, H7N3, and H7N7), which are usually associated with poultry outbreaks but cause mild disease in humans. However, infection with avian influenza A(H7N7) virus resulted in the death of a veterinarian during an outbreak in the Netherlands (6). In the 5 patients reported here, avian influenza A(H7N9) virus caused fatal disease in 2 adult patients 52 and 49 years of age, who had other medical conditions. Older age has been reported to confer higher risk for developing more severe influenza-associated outcomes (7).

In conclusion, these cases indicated that avian influenza A(H7N9) virus might not be as virulent as avian influenza A(H5N1) virus in humans. Avian influenza A(H7N9) virus does not appear to cause obvious disease in poultry and causes mild disease in children. More severe disease in adults occurred among those had concurrent diseases or were immunodeficient.

Avian influenza A(H7N9) virus infections, Shanghai, China.

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 17 fatal H7N9 cases in Shanghai in 2013, analyzed clinical variables and described their clinical and epidemiologic characteristics The median age was 73 years, and 824% had underlying medical conditions The most frequent symptoms were fever (100%), followed by productive cough (471%) and dry cough (355%) Thirteen (765%) patients had dyspnea or respiratory distress, five (294%) had shock, and four (235%) had acute kidney injury Seventeen (1000%) patients had lymphopenia Involvement of both lungs was found by chest radiography in 14 (824%) patients at presentation Fifteen (882%) patients were hospitalized The median times from illness onset to hospitalization and to diagnosis confirmation were both six days Eleven (647%) patients were admitted to the intensive care unit Sixteen (941%) patients were treated with oseltamivir The median time from illness onset to oseltamivir treatment was six days Among six patients for whom the duration of viral shedding was available, the median duration of viral shedding after oseltamivir treatment was 17 days The median time from illness onset to death was 11 days Refractory hypoxemia accounted for most deaths The clinical and epidemiologic characteristics in the Shanghai fatal series of patients do not differ from other reports of H7N9 patients in China This investigation reflects a delay in the diagnosis and antiviral treatment of H7N9 patients in the early stage of the epidemic in Shanghai Late antiviral treatment and a long duration of viral shedding may be associated with a fatal outcome in these patients

Xianzheng Wu

Papers

Clinical findings in 111 cases of influenza A (H7N9) virus infection

Avian influenza A(H7N9) virus infections, Shanghai, China.

Fatal cases of human infection with avian influenza A (H7N9) virus in Shanghai, China in 2013.