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China News Service/中国新闻网 [CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]

Analysis of 99 coronoavirus patients hints at who is most at risk

Embargoed until: Publicly released:

An analysis of 99 patients with 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), including some of the first patients to be hospitalised, has found that it is more likely to affect older males with other underlying diseases, and can result in severe and even fatal respiratory diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome. The study found most patients were middle-aged (average age 55.5 years) and male (67 patients), and around half had a history of exposure to the Huanan seafood market (49 patients). Around half of cases occurred in people with underlying chronic diseases including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes. The authors point out that while this is the largest study of its kind so far, larger studies including patients from other cities and countries are needed to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of this novel coronavirus.

Journal/conference: The Lancet

Link to research (DOI): 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30211-7

Organisation/s: Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, China

Funder: This study was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (number 2017YFC1309700).

Media Release

From: The Lancet

Peer-reviewed / Observational study / People

The Lancet: Report provides largest clinical and treatment data set from cases of new coronavirus in China

A new analysis, published in The Lancet, includes 99 patients with laboratory-confirmed 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) who were transferred to Jinyintan Hospital, an adult infectious disease hospital admitting the first 2019-nCoV cases from hospitals across Wuhan, between January 1 and January 20, 2020. The study includes the first 41 cases from Wuhan reported in The Lancet last week [1].

The authors combined clinical records, laboratory results, and imaging findings with epidemiological data. Most patients were middle-aged (average age 55.5 years) and male (67 patients), and around half had a history of exposure to the Huanan seafood market (49 patients)—most of whom (46 patients) worked at the market as managers or salespeople.

Around half of cases (50 cases) occurred in people with underlying chronic diseases including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (40 patients) and diabetes (12 patients). All patients admitted to hospital had pneumonia—most were infected in both lungs (74 patients). The majority also had fever (82 patients), cough (81), and a third experienced shortness of breath (31). Five critically ill patients also experienced coinfections with bacteria (1 patient) and fungi (4).

Most patients were treated with antivirals (75 patients), antibiotics (70), and oxygen therapy (75), and had a good prognosis. However, 17 patients developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), 11 of whom died of multiple organ failure.

More than half of patients (57 patients) are still in hospital, and almost a third (31 patients) have been discharged, as of 25 January, 2020.

The authors point out that while this is the largest study of its kind, involving 99 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV, larger studies including patients from other cities and countries are needed to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of this novel coronavirus.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The study was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China. It was conducted by researchers from Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, Wuhan, China; Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.

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