tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Bull World Health Organ
. 2021 Mar 1;99(3):178-189.
doi: 10.2471/BLT.20.265603. Epub 2020 Nov 30.
Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of early COVID-19 cases, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Nicola L Boddington[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Andre Charlett[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Suzanne Elgohari[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Chloe Byers[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Laura Coughlan[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tatiana Garcia Vilaplana[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rosie Whillock[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mary Sinnathamby[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Louise Letley[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Pauline MacDonald[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Roberto Vivancos[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Obaghe Edeghere[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Joseph Shingleton[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Emma Bennett[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Simon Cottrell[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Jim McMenamin[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Maria Zambon[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mary Ramsay[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Gavin Dabrera[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Vanessa Saliba[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jamie Lopez Bernal[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian
Objective: To describe the clinical presentation, course of disease and health-care seeking behaviour of the first few hundred cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Methods: We implemented the World Health Organization's First Few X cases and contacts investigation protocol for COVID-19. Trained public health professionals collected information on 381 virologically confirmed COVID-19 cases from 31 January 2020 to 9 April 2020. We actively followed up cases to identify exposure to infection, symptoms and outcomes. We also collected limited data on 752 symptomatic people testing negative for COVID-19, as a control group for analyses of the sensitivity, specificity and predictive value of symptoms.
Findings: Approximately half of the COVID-19 cases were imported (196 cases; 51.4%), of whom the majority had recent travel to Italy (140 cases; 71.4%). Of the 94 (24.7%) secondary cases, almost all reported close contact with a confirmed case (93 cases; 98.9%), many through household contact (37 cases; 39.8%). By age, a lower proportion of children had COVID-19. Most cases presented with cough, fever and fatigue. The sensitivity and specificity of symptoms varied by age, with nonlinear relationships with age. Although the proportion of COVID-19 cases with fever increased with age, for those with other respiratory infections the occurrence of fever decreased with age. The occurrence of shortness of breath also increased with age in a greater proportion of COVID-19 cases.
Conclusion: The study has provided useful evidence for generating case definitions and has informed modelling studies of the likely burden of COVID-19.
. 2021 Mar 1;99(3):178-189.
doi: 10.2471/BLT.20.265603. Epub 2020 Nov 30.
Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of early COVID-19 cases, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Nicola L Boddington[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Andre Charlett[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Suzanne Elgohari[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Chloe Byers[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Laura Coughlan[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tatiana Garcia Vilaplana[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rosie Whillock[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mary Sinnathamby[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Louise Letley[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Pauline MacDonald[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Roberto Vivancos[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Obaghe Edeghere[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Joseph Shingleton[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Emma Bennett[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Simon Cottrell[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Jim McMenamin[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Maria Zambon[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mary Ramsay[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Gavin Dabrera[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Vanessa Saliba[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jamie Lopez Bernal[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33716340
- PMCID: PMC7941108
- DOI: 10.2471/BLT.20.265603
Abstract
in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian
Objective: To describe the clinical presentation, course of disease and health-care seeking behaviour of the first few hundred cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Methods: We implemented the World Health Organization's First Few X cases and contacts investigation protocol for COVID-19. Trained public health professionals collected information on 381 virologically confirmed COVID-19 cases from 31 January 2020 to 9 April 2020. We actively followed up cases to identify exposure to infection, symptoms and outcomes. We also collected limited data on 752 symptomatic people testing negative for COVID-19, as a control group for analyses of the sensitivity, specificity and predictive value of symptoms.
Findings: Approximately half of the COVID-19 cases were imported (196 cases; 51.4%), of whom the majority had recent travel to Italy (140 cases; 71.4%). Of the 94 (24.7%) secondary cases, almost all reported close contact with a confirmed case (93 cases; 98.9%), many through household contact (37 cases; 39.8%). By age, a lower proportion of children had COVID-19. Most cases presented with cough, fever and fatigue. The sensitivity and specificity of symptoms varied by age, with nonlinear relationships with age. Although the proportion of COVID-19 cases with fever increased with age, for those with other respiratory infections the occurrence of fever decreased with age. The occurrence of shortness of breath also increased with age in a greater proportion of COVID-19 cases.
Conclusion: The study has provided useful evidence for generating case definitions and has informed modelling studies of the likely burden of COVID-19.