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. 2020 May;21(5):369-377.
doi: 10.1631/jzus.B2000112. Epub 2020 May 9.

Comparison of epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients with and without Wuhan exposure history in Zhejiang Province, China

Jiang-Shan Lian  1 , Huan Cai  1 , Shao-Rui Hao  1 , Xi Jin  2 , Xiao-Li Zhang  1 , Lin Zheng  1 , Hong-Yu Jia  1 , Jian-Hua Hu  1 , Shan-Yan Zhang  1 , Guo-Dong Yu  1 , Jue-Qing Gu  1 , Chan-Yuan Ye  1 , Ci-Liang Jin  1 , Ying-Feng Lu  1 , Ji-Fang Sheng  1 , Yi-da Yang  1
Affiliations

Comparison of epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients with and without Wuhan exposure history in Zhejiang Province, China

Jiang-Shan Lian et al. J Zhejiang Univ Sci B. 2020 May.

Abstract

Background: A novel coronavirus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), first identified in Wuhan, China, has been rapidly spreading around the world. This study investigates the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in Zhejiang Province who did or did not have a history of Wuhan exposure.

Methods: We collected data from medical records of confirmed COVID-19 patients in Zhejiang Province from Jan. 17 to Feb. 7, 2020 and analyzed epidemiological, clinical, and treatment data of those with and without recorded recent exposure in Wuhan.

Results: Patients in the control group were older than those in the exposure group ((48.19±16.13) years vs. (43.47±13.12) years, P<0.001), and more were over 65 years old (15.95% control vs. 5.60% exposure, P<0.001). The rate of clustered onset was also significantly higher in the control group than in the exposure group (31.39% vs. 18.66%, P<0.001). The symptom of a sore throat in patients in the exposure group was significantly higher than that in the control group (17.30% vs. 10.89%, P=0.01); however, headache in the exposure group was significantly lower than that in the control group (6.87% vs. 12.15%, P=0.015). More patients in the exposure group had a significantly lower level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) than those in the control group. There was no significant difference in any degree of COVID-19 including mild, severe, and critical between the two groups.

Conclusions: From the perspective of epidemiological and clinical characteristics, there was no significant difference between COVID-19 patients with and without Wuhan exposure history.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); Zhejiang Province; Wuhan.

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Conflict of interest statement

Compliance with ethics guidelines: Jiang-shan LIAN, Huan CAI, Shao-rui HAO, Xi JIN, Xiao-li ZHANG, Lin ZHENG, Hong-yu JIA, Jian-hua HU, Shan-yan ZHANG, Guo-dong YU, Jue-qing GU, Chan-yuan YE, Ci-liang JIN, Ying-feng LU, Ji-fang SHENG, and Yi-da YANG declare that they have no conflict of interest.

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study. Additional informed consent was obtained from all patients for whom identifying information is included in this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Onset of illness among 788 cases of COVID-19 in Zhejiang Province, China Patients with Wuhan exposure history as “exposure group,” and patients without Wuhan exposure history as “control group”
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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