Clinical and laboratory characteristics of COVID-19

I.V. Mannanova¹, V.T. Semenov², Zh.B. Ponezheva¹, V.V. Makashova¹, A.A. Grishaeva¹, E.V. Melekhina¹, A.A. Ploskireva¹, S.V. Nikolaeva¹, V.V. Maleev¹

¹Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of the Federal Service on Customers’ Rights Protection and Human Well-being Surveillance, Moscow

²Center for Restorative Medicine and Rehabilitation “Berozovaya Roscha”, Medical Unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Moscow

Aim: to identify clinical and laboratory patterns of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients with mild and moderate severity.

Patients and Methods: the study included 227 patients with COVID-19 aged 18 to 93 years (average age of men — 48.0±2.8 years (158 (69.6%), women — 69 (30.4%)). In 151 patients (66.5%), the presence of SARS-Cov-2 virus was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and in 76 people (33.5%), the diagnosis was clinically and epidemiologically established in the presence of a negative PCR result. The examination of patients was conducted according to the temporary recommendations «Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of new coronavirus infection (COVID-19)».

Results: the disease clinical picture in most patients was characterized by the presence of bilateral viral pneumonia (in 185 patients (81.5%)), whereas in 37 patients (16.3%), the disease proceeded without lung damage in the ARVI form with involvement of the upper respiratory tract. Among patients with pneumonia, mild severity was recorded in 52 (80%) patients, and moderate — in 133 (20%) patients. Men in comparison to women were more likely to have symptoms of intoxication (50.6% vs. 28.2%) and dyspnea (28.2% vs. 10.1%). 73% of patients had different degrees of respiratory failure (RF), quarter of patients (26%) had no signs of RF. According to CT data, at the time of hospitalization, lung tissue damage of varying degrees was observed in 88% of patients. Dynamics of most patients showed a decrease in the lung damage degree, however, in 30% of cases there was no lung damage regression at the end of the hospitalization period.

Conclusion: the new coronavirus infection caused by SARS-Cov-2 is a systemic disease with multiple organ damage and requires further careful study of clinical and immunological patterns.

Keywords: coronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-Cov-2, pneumonia, respiratory failure, computed tomography.

For citation: Mannanova I.V., Semenov V.T., Ponezheva Zh.B. et al. Clinical and laboratory characteristics of COVID-19. RMJ. 2021;4:22–25.