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Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection swept through Wuhan and spread across China and overseas beginning in December 2019. To identify predictors associated with disease progression, we evaluated clinical risk factors for exacerbation of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Methods: A retrospective analysis was used for PCR-confirmed COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019)-diagnosed hospitalized cases between January 19, 2020, and February 19, 2020, in Zhejiang, China. We systematically analysed the clinical characteristics of the patients and predictors of clinical deterioration.Results: One hundred patients with COVID-19, with a median age of 54 years, were included. Among them, 49 patients (49%) had severe and critical disease. Age ([36-58] vs [51-70], P = 0.0001); sex (49% vs 77.6%, P = 0.0031); Body Mass Index (BMI) ([21.53-25.51] vs [23.28-27.01], P = 0.0339); hypertension (17.6% vs 57.1%, P < 0.0001); IL-6 ([6.42-30.46] vs [16.2-81.71], P = 0.0001); IL-10 ([2.16-5.82] vs [4.35-9.63], P < 0.0001); T lymphocyte count ([305-1178] vs [167.5-440], P = 0.0001); B lymphocyte count ([91-213] vs [54.5-163.5], P = 0.0001); white blood cell count ([3.9-7.6] vs [5.5-13.6], P = 0.0002); D2 dimer ([172-836] vs [408-953], P = 0.005), PCT ([0.03-0.07] vs [0.04-0.15], P = 0.0039); CRP ([3.8-27.9] vs [17.3-58.9], P < 0.0001); AST ([16, 29] vs [18, 42], P = 0.0484); artificial liver therapy (2% vs 16.3%, P = 0.0148); and glucocorticoid therapy (64.7% vs 98%, P < 0.0001) were associated with the severity of the disease. Age and weight were independent risk factors for disease severity.Conclusion: Deterioration among COVID-19-infected patients occurred rapidly after hospital admission. In our cohort, we found that multiple factors were associated with the severity of COVID19. Early detection and monitoring of these indicators may reduce the progression of the disease. Removing these factors may halt the progression of the disease. In addition, Oxygen support, early treatment with low doses of glucocorticoids and artificial liver therapy, when necessary, may help reduce mortality in critically ill patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recently, many novel hantavirus species carried by insectivore had been found. In order to know whether the insectivore-associated hantaviruses exist in China, Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus) were analyzed for the presence of hantaviruses. 362 Asian house shrews were captured in Wenzhou of Zhejiang province. Hantavirus-specific RNA was detected by RT-PCR in lung tissue samples of six shrews. The complete hantavirus S and M segment sequences and also partial L segment sequences were successfully recovered. Pairwise comparison of the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences showed that the newly discovered virus strains are most closely related to Thottapalayam virus (TPMV) isolated from S. murinus in India, with 82.5–84.7% sequence identity at the nucleotide level and 95.0–98.2% at the amino acid level. Corresponding sequences of Imjin virus (MJNV) were more distant and other rodent- and insectivore-associated hantaviruses appeared even less related. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the new variants formed a distinct lineage within TPMV. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]