1. Features of patients with 2019 novel coronavirus admitted in a pneumology department: The first retrospective Tunisian case series
- Author
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Sabrine, Louhaichi, Asma, Allouche, Hassène, Baili, Sonia, Jrad, Alaeddine, Radhouani, Dorra, Greb, Inès, Akrout, Jamel, Ammar, Basma, Hamdi, Faouzi, Added, Sawssan, Hantous, and Agnès, Hamzaoui
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Tunisia ,Fever ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Pneumonia, Viral ,Hospital Departments ,COVID-19 ,Middle Aged ,Hospitalization ,Betacoronavirus ,Cough ,Humans ,Female ,Coronavirus Infections ,Tomography, X-Ray Computed ,Pandemics ,Retrospective Studies - Abstract
On 2 March 2020, Tunisia has reported the first confirmed case of COVID-19. Since then, the disease has affected about 700 persons in the country. The purpose of our study was to report epidemiological, clinical, radiological and therapeutic features of patients with 2019-nCoV infection admitted in the pneumology department.We extracted the data of the consequetive 20 patients managed in the department of pneumology B at Abderrahmen Mami hospital, from March, 26 to April, 8, 2020.The median age was 61 years old [41-85]. There were 9 men and 11 women. Underlying disorders were observed in 16 patients (80%). Five patients were health care workers. Three patients did not have any known exposure. Common symptoms included fever (100%), shortness of breath (70%) and cough (70%). Computed tomography scans showed bilateral ground glass opacities in 7/9 cases. Fifteen patients received both chloroquine and azithromycin. Fourteen patients (70%) were discharged before April, 8, 2020. Reported complications were: hypokalemia (3 cases), pulmonary embolism (2 cases) and QT prolongation (1 case). One patient died from acute cardiac injury.Knowing the different aspects of moderate and severe forms of the disease can contribute to advance in infection control strategies.
- Published
- 2020