Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance during the Initial Phase of the COVID-19 Outbreak in North India: Comparison of COVID-19 to Other SARI Causes

Introduction: World Health Organization proposes severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) case definition for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveillance; however, early differentiation between SARI etiologies remains challenging. We aimed to investigate the spectrum and outcome of SARI and compare COVID-19 to non-COVID-19 causes. Patients and methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted between March 15, 2020, to August 15, 2020, at an adult medical emergency in North India. SARI was diagnosed using a "modified" case definition-febrile respiratory symptoms or radiographic evidence of pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome of <= 14 days duration, along with a need for hospitalization and in the absence of an alternative etiology that fully explains the illness. COVID-19 was diagnosed with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction testing. Results: In total, 95/212 (44.8%) cases had COVID-19. Community-acquired pneumonia (n = 57), exacerbation of chronic lung disease (n = 11), heart failure (n = 11), tropical febrile illnesses (n = 10), and influenza A (n = 5) were common non-COVID-19 causes. No between-group differences were apparent in age >60 years, comorbidities, oxygenation, leukocytosis, lymphopenia, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE)-II score, CURB-65 score, and ventilator requirement at 24-hour. Bilateral lung distribution and middle-lower zones involvement in radiography predicted COVID-19. The median hospital stay was longer with COVID-19 (12 versus 5 days, P = 0.000); however, mortality was similar (31.6% versus 28.2%, P = 0.593). Independent mortality predictors were higher mean APACHE II in COVID-19 and early ventilator requirement in non-COVID-19 cases. Conclusions: COVID-19 has similar severity and mortality as non-COVID-19 SARI but requires an extended hospital stay. Including radiography in the SARI definition might improve COVID-19 surveillance.