Clinical Characteristics, Treatment and Prognosis of 74 COVID-19 Patients from Cities Outside Wuhan: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Background: Since December 2019, pneumonia caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), namely COVID-19, has rapidly spread from Wuhan city to other cities across China, with the cumulative number of infections reaching 80,000. According to official data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients in Wuhan are significantly different from COVID-19 patients in other cities. Objective: To describe the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of 74 hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Design: Retrospective, single-center case study. Methods: Clinical data of 74 COVID-19 patients discharged from the Anhui Provincial Hospital Infectious Disease Hospital (Hefei city, Anhui Province) from January 21 to February 25, 2020, were collected to analyze the patients in our hospital had a history of close contact with people from Wuhan. Fever, cough, expectoration, and fatigue were the most common symptoms. Compared with patients in Wuhan, COVID-19 patients in Anhui Province had milder conditions and optimistic therapeutic outcomes, suggesting that there may be some regional differences in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between different cities.