PREVALENCE AND CLINICAL FEATURES OF COVID19 AMONG HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS WITH HEMOGLOBINOPATHY IN EASTERN PROVINCE OF SAUDI ARABIA, CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY, 2020

Background: Patients with Hemoglobin disorders have weak immune system. Patients with sickle cell have auto-splenectomy and use hydroxyurea treatment which could cause further immunosuppression. This fact is thought to increases the risk of acquiring COVID 19 infection specially if they were older and have other co-morbid illnesses as diabetes or cancer. At April 12, 2020 Ministry of health shared the first version of Rapid Response Guidelines on COVID19 in Sickle Cell Disease. The guideline was based on expert opinion since no studies have been published to study this special population. Aim: To study prevalence and clinical features of hospitalized patients with hemoglobinopathies and confirmed COVID-19 in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in two major hospitals in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia from March 2020 to September 2020. Data for patients with confirmed COVID19 and hemoglobinopathy were collected from electronic medical files. descriptive and analytic inferential statistics was conducted. Results: There were 1122 patients (700 from King Fahad Hospital in Al-Hassa and 422 from Dammam Hospital) admitted due COVID-19 from March 2020 to September 2020. Among them, 43 patients had been diagnosed with hemoglobinopathy, giving an overall prevalence rate of 3.83%. The most common type of hemoglobin disorder was sickle cell disease (53.5%) followed by sickle cell trait (27.9%). mean duration of hospital stay was 18.7 (SD 43.5) days. it was observed that the duration of hospital stay of patients who were taking antiviral medication (p=0.009) and hydroxychloroquine (p=0.019) were significantly longer. Conclusion: Saudi Arabia showed higher prevalence of COVID-19 infection in patients with hemoglobinopathies in comparison to other countries worldwide. This is ought to the fact that Eastern province is one of the most prevalent areas for patients hemoglobinopathies. researchers found that despite a large population of patients with hemoglobinopathies in our area, COVID 19 patients with SCD or thalassemia who required hospital care, oxygenation or ICU admission were less than the non-hemoglobinopathies patients. Key Words: Hemoglobinopathy, Covid-19 , Sickle cell ,Thalassemia , Saudi Arabia