M. Morshed, A. Mosabbir, P. Chowdhury, S. M. Ashadullah, M. Hossain
medRxiv, 2020
Bangladesh is in the rising phase of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, the scientific literature on clinical manifestations of COVID-19 patients from Bangladesh is virtually absent. This is the first study aimed to report the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 in Bangladesh. We conducted a cross-sectional study at three dedicated COVID-19 hospitals. A total of 103 RT-PCR confirmed non-critical COVID-19 patients were enrolled. Sociodemographic factors, underlying disease conditions, clinical symptoms and vital signs including oxygen saturation were documented and analyzed. The median age of the patients was 37 years (IQR: 31-53); most of the patients (71.8%) were male. Mild, moderate and severe illness were present in 74.76%, 9.71% and 15.53% of patients respectively. More than half (52.4%) patients had a co-morbidity, with hypertension being the most common (34%), followed by diabetes (21.4%) and Ischemic heart disease (9.7%). Fever (78.6%), weakness (68%) and cough (44.7%) were the most common clinical manifestations. Other common symptoms included loss of appetite (37.9%), difficulty breathing (37.9%), altered sensation of taste or smell (35.0%), headache (32%) and bodyache (32%). The median time from onset of symptom to attending hospitals was 7 days (IQR 4-10). This study will help both the clinicians and epidemiologists to understand the magnitude and clinical spectrum of COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh.
Cited by 5 publications.
Field of study: Medicine