tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Age Ageing. 2020 Apr 21. pii: afaa068. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afaa068. [Epub ahead of print]
Atypical presentation of COVID-19 in a frail older person.
Tay HS[SUP]1[/SUP], Harwood R[SUP]1,[/SUP][SUP]2[/SUP].
Author information
Abstract
Common symptoms of pandemic coronavirus disease (COVID-19) include fever and cough. We describe a 94-year-old man with well-controlled schizoaffective disorder, who presented with non-specific and atypical symptoms: delirium, low-grade pyrexia and abdominal pain. He was given antibiotics for infection of unknown source, subsequently refined to treatment for community-acquired pneumonia. Despite active treatment, he deteriorated with oxygen desaturation and tachypnoea. A repeat chest X-ray showed widespread opacification. A postmortem throat swab identified COVID-19 infection. He was treated in three wards over 5 days with no infection control precautions. This has implications for the screening, assessment and isolation of frail older people to COVID-specific clinical facilities and highlights the potential for spread among healthcare professionals and other patients.
? The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19; atypical presentation; older people; pandemic; pneumonia
PMID:32315386DOI:10.1093/ageing/afaa068
Atypical presentation of COVID-19 in a frail older person.
Tay HS[SUP]1[/SUP], Harwood R[SUP]1,[/SUP][SUP]2[/SUP].
Author information
Abstract
Common symptoms of pandemic coronavirus disease (COVID-19) include fever and cough. We describe a 94-year-old man with well-controlled schizoaffective disorder, who presented with non-specific and atypical symptoms: delirium, low-grade pyrexia and abdominal pain. He was given antibiotics for infection of unknown source, subsequently refined to treatment for community-acquired pneumonia. Despite active treatment, he deteriorated with oxygen desaturation and tachypnoea. A repeat chest X-ray showed widespread opacification. A postmortem throat swab identified COVID-19 infection. He was treated in three wards over 5 days with no infection control precautions. This has implications for the screening, assessment and isolation of frail older people to COVID-specific clinical facilities and highlights the potential for spread among healthcare professionals and other patients.
? The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19; atypical presentation; older people; pandemic; pneumonia
PMID:32315386DOI:10.1093/ageing/afaa068