Clinical presentation of Covid-19 Disease in two Rural New York Counties

Purpose To analyze the phenotypic expression of Coronavirus infection (COVID-19) among patients residing in the Chemung and Schuyler counties of New York State. Method A retrospective review of medical records was performed between March 16, 2020 to April 16, 2020. Sixty- five patients presenting with symptoms of COVID-19 infection were included in this IRB-exempt study. Presence of infection was confirmed using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) from nasopharyngeal swab samples, as per Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) guidelines. Results Patients varied in age from 13 to 82 years, with nearly equal proportion of females (51%) vs males (49%) affected. The most common presenting symptoms were cough (80%), fever (75.3%) and myalgia (63%). Less commonly reported symptoms included fatigue (48%), dyspnea (38%), sore throat (35%), headache (34%), gastrointestinal symptoms (32%), loss of smell/taste (29%), rhinorrhea (23%), anorexia (17%), sputum production (1.54%), red eyes (1.5%) and rash (1.5%). Conclusion We found that patients with COVID- 19 infection most commonly presented with fever and cough in these two rural counties. Further research is needed to study phenotypic regional variations in an effort to both risk stratify and identify patients who may present with findings which may otherwise be difficult to diagnose