Burns and patients infected with COVID-19 at a burn treatment centre in Brazil: a series of case-reports.

Abstract

Background: In December 2019, in Wuhan, China, several cases of viral pneumonia, caused by a new type of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, a disease that became known as COVID-19) emerged. Being an alarming situation, many resources were directed to fight this pandemic. However, other diseases and conditions, such as burn injuries, continued to occur in this period, thus creating multiple challenges.

Method: Four patients with COVID-19 treated in a reference burn treatment centre from the Northeast region of Brazil, in the city of Fortaleza were analysed between April to June 2020.

Results: All patients were admitted in the service without signs of COVID-19 infection; however the symptoms appeared a few days after hospitalisation. The most common symptom was fever, especially when it occurred in only one spike. Patients who evolved to an unfavourable outcome had comorbidities prior to the infection and burn injury. In addition to this, these two patients had a worsening of their renal function, in contrast to the other two patients that received hospital discharge.

Conclusion: The burned patient is a complex one that requires the health professional's attention and special care. This became even more evident during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the patients' changes and symptoms must be cautiously analysed, their diagnosis should not be delayed and it must be made under standardised protocols accordingly with the socio-economic and cultural realities of each service.