Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients in Nantong, China

Introduction: COVID-19 is a newly emerging life-threatening respiratory disease caused by a newly identified coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Methodology: We included 28 COVID-19 patients admitted to Nantong Third Hospital from January 23 to February 26, 2020. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed using real-time RT-PCR. The demographic, epidemiological, clinical, laboratory parameters were obtained from each patient. Results: The vast majority (71.4%) of confirmed COVID-19 patients were brought in from outside of the city, and all others had contact history with these confirmed cases. The median age of patients was 50 years old and half had underlying diseases. The most common symptoms at the onset of illness were fever (96.4%), cough (67.9%), and chilly (28.6%), and 75.0% patients had two or more symptoms. Increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, serum ferritin and C-reactive protein levels, and reduced absolute counts of total lymphocytes and T lymphocyte subsets were observed among the patients. The vast majority (85.7%) of patients showed bilateral or unilateral pneumonia, and three symptomatic patients and one asymptomatic case did not show abnormalities in their CT image. Among the 28 admitted patients, 24 were discharged as of February 26, 2020, with an average hospital stay of 14.96 (+/- 4.27) days, which was not significantly associated with the interval between the onset of symptoms and admission. Conclusions: In the absence of specific antiviral drugs or a vaccine, quarantine or isolation is the most effective intervention strategy for preventing the spread of the virus. Adequate supportive medical care is crucial for good prognosis of COVID-19 patients.