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. 2020 Sep;20(5):e189-e190.
doi: 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0440. Epub 2020 Aug 3.

Dying 'due to' or 'with' COVID-19: a cause of death analysis in hospitalised patients

Thomas A Slater  1 , Sam Straw  1 , Michael Drozd  1 , Stephe Kamalathasan  2 , Alice Cowley  2 , Klaus K Witte  3
Affiliations

Dying 'due to' or 'with' COVID-19: a cause of death analysis in hospitalised patients

Thomas A Slater et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2020 Sep.

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is accompanied by an ever-rising death toll attributed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but questions have persisted regarding deaths formally attributed to COVID-19. We aimed to provide an independent review of clinical features of patients who died during hospitalisation with a positive PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 and relate these to the reported cause of death. Between 23 March and 28 April 2020, a total of 162 patients with a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR died in our NHS trust. COVID-19 infection was documented as the direct cause of death in 150 (93%). Review of the records revealed 138 (92%) patients had pulmonary infiltrates on chest radiography, and 146 (97%) required oxygen therapy. This retrospective review of cause of death has demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of hospitalised patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR died as a direct consequence of COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus.

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Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Weekly deaths ‘due to’ compared to ‘with’ COVID-19 in in Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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