Clinical and Transmission Characteristics of Covid-19 — A Retrospective Study of 25 Cases from a Single Thoracic Surgery Department

• Published in: Current medical science Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 295 - 300
• Main Authors: Li, Yang-kai, Peng, Shu, Li, Le-qun, Wang, Qi, Ping, Wei, Zhang, Ni, Fu, Xiang-ning
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wuhan Huazhong University of Science and Technology 01.04.2020
• Subjects: Aged; Betacoronavirus; Coronavirus Infections - diagnostic imaging; Coronavirus Infections - transmission; COVID-19; Female; Humans; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral - diagnostic imaging; Pneumonia, Viral - transmission; Postoperative Complications; Retrospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2; Thoracic Surgical Procedures - adverse effects; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; SARS-CoV-2; corona virus disease 2019; nosocomial infection
• ISSN: 2096-5230; 2523-899X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11596-020-2176-2

Summary The outbreak of corona virus disease 2019 (Covid-19) imposes a major challenge in managing patients undergoing surgical operation. In this study, we analyzed clinical and transmission features of 25 cases of Covid-19 from a single thoracic department, including 13 patients and 12 health care staff. There were 13 males and 12 females. The median age of the patients was 61 (range: 51 to 69) years. The median age of the health care staff was 35 (range: 22 to 51) years. By the end of follow-up date (Mar. 3, 2020), there were 16 non-severe cases (64%) and 9 severe cases (36%), 5 cases were dead (20%). Nineteen (76%) of the infected cases were confirmed by SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test, the rest were clinically diagnosed as suspected Covid-19 cases, and 19 (76%) of the infected cases had positive exposure history. We found that COPD was significantly associated with severity and death ( P =0.040, and P =0.038, respectively), and chest operation was significantly associated with death for Covid-19 patients ( P =0.039). A potential “super spreader” may be the source of the transmission before the implementation of quarantine and comprehensive protection. It was concluded that Covid-19 is associated with poor prognosis for patients undergoing thoracic operation, especially for those with COPD. Implementation of comprehensive protective measures is important to control nosocomial infection.