CLINICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEW CORONAVIRUS INFECTION COVID-19: DATA FROM A FEDERAL HOSPITAL IN SAMARA REGION

Objective: to analyze clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with COVID-19 treated in a federal hospital of Samara region and their association with disease severity.

Materials and methods. We analyzed the results of clinical and epidemiological examination of 361 patients with  COVID-19 divided into two groups: patients with moderate disease (n = 285) and patients with severe disease (n  = 76). All study participants received inpatient treatment in the federal hospital of Samara State Medical University  in 2020. The diagnosis was verified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and/or  polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Results. There were no significant differences in the gender and age of COVID-19 patients in the two groups compared. Patients in Group 2 were slightly older than those in Group 1 (62.5 years (range: 53.0–68.8) vs 57.0 years (47.0–65.0) (trend; р = 0.008). The disease severity correlated with the time to hospitalization: the longer patients stayed at home, the more likely they developed severe disease. Such symptoms as sore throat and rhinorrhea were associated with a less severe disease, whereas shortness of breath, any changes in consciousness, nausea, and stool disorders on weeks 2–3 of the disease correlated with a more severe course. The proportion of patients with concomitant diseases (especially, more than one) was significantly higher in patients  with severe COVID-19 than in patients with moderate COVID-19 (74% vs 63%).

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