Epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cases in Xianyang, Shaanxi / 上海预防医学

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cases reported in Xianyang City from January to February 2020. Methods We retrospectively studied 17 COVID-19 patients diagnosed in Xianyang Central Hospital. The patients were characterized clinically and epidemiologically. Results The 17 patients included 10 male and 7 female, with an average age of(39.59±17.31)years. The median interval of time between onset and diagnosis was four days(1-10 days), whereas the median duration of COVID-19 was 16 days(3-23 days). Of the patients, six were mild, 10 were pneumonia, and one was severe. A total of 15 patients had fever as the onset, accompanied by fatigue, sore throat, sputum, vomit, muscle soreness; the other two patients were asymptomatic. There were no complications documented in all the patients. Patients had low levels of white blood cells and lymphocytes. Chest CT scan showed diverse diffuse ground-glass shadow. Eleven patients had travel history in Wuhan before the onset, four patients had contact with people who had travel history or residence history in Wuhan, and the other two patients did not report epidemiological exposure history. In addition, four of the 17 patients were clustered cases. Conclusion General population is susceptible to COVID-19. The majority of the confirmed cases have epidemiological exposure history. Routine examination, including white blood cell, lymphocyte count and CT scan may facilitate early diagnosis.