Eurosurv. Clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with severe COVID-19: prospective analysis of 1,045 hospitalised cases in North-Easter

[tetano]

• Clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with severe COVID-19: prospective analysis of 1,045 hospitalised cases in North-Eastern France, March 2020
• Charlotte Kaeuffer[SUP]1[/SUP] , Coralie Le Hyaric[SUP]1,2[/SUP] , Thibaut Fabacher[SUP]2,3[/SUP] , Joy Mootien[SUP]4[/SUP] , Benjamin Dervieux[SUP]5[/SUP] , Yvon Ruch[SUP]1[/SUP] , Antonin Hugerot[SUP]1[/SUP] , Yves-Jean Zhu[SUP]1[/SUP] , Valentin Pointurier[SUP]4[/SUP] , Raphael Clere-Jehl[SUP]6[/SUP] , Valentin Greigert[SUP]7[/SUP] , Loic Kassegne[SUP]8[/SUP] , Nicolas Lefebvre[SUP]1[/SUP] , Floriane Gallais[SUP]9[/SUP] , Covid Alsace Study Group[SUP]10[/SUP] , Nicolas Meyer[SUP]3,11[/SUP] , Yves Hansmann[SUP]1[/SUP] , Olivier Hinschberger[SUP]5[/SUP] , Fran?ois Danion

An outbreak of pneumonia linked to a new coronavirus termed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 [1]. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by this virus, then rapidly spread globally resulting in a pandemic. On 13 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Europe the new epicentre of the pandemic, as more cases and deaths were reported there at that time compared to other areas of the world [2]. Among European countries, Italy, France, Spain and the United Kingdom (UK) were severely affected. On 2 August 2020, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported 17,841,669 confirmed cases in the world with 685,281 deaths, and 1,733,550 confirmed cases in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) and the UK, with 182,639 deaths [3]. In France, 187,919 confirmed cases, and 30,265 deaths were reported on this same date. The Alsace region in the North-East of France, harboured an important COVID-19 cluster.

The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 ranges from the absence of symptoms to life-threatening severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death, making the detection and isolation of COVID-19 cases complex and facilitating the spread of the virus [4-7]. In turn, this can lead to overall increases in numbers of patients having severe disease, with the potential to overwhelm the capacity of intensive care units (ICU). To mitigate this problem, predicting which patients may be most affected by severe COVID-19 is critical.

Most primary reports on risk factors associated with poor prognoses linked to COVID-19 have come from China [8,9]. In this study, such factors are investigated in France and we report the clinical, biological and radiological characteristics of a large cohort of patients hospitalised for COVID-19 in two main hospitals, Strasbourg and Mulhouse, located in the Alsace region. Our objective was to highlight factors identifiable through routine clinical practice that could predict severe COVID-19 development and death during the first wave of the pandemic. We aimed to find ways to easily identify patients who should be closely monitored and may benefit from specific therapies.


https://www.eurosurveillance.org/con...#html_fulltext