COVID clinical epidemiology : Indian Perspective

ABSTRACT Introduction: A Novel strain of Coronaviruses caused a cluster of pneumonia in the city of Wuhan in China by the end of 2019 which soon became a global pandemic by February 2020. World Health Organization labelled the disease as COVID-19, which stands for Corona Virus Disease-2019. More than a billion people have been tested positive with nearly 20 million dead due to COVID-19.1 COVID-19 has brought a sea of change in practice of medicine. The challenge of containing rapid spread of the disease along with rationing of limited resources has proved to be critical in the war against the virus. Among different fields in medicine, surgical specialities have undergone a paradigm change in this pandemic. Starting from virtual consultations, triaging and prioritising surgical cases, need for a COVID testing preoperatively, use of PP and mask with filters to use of webinars and simulation as a tool to continue surgical training.It is important that surgeons understand the various risk associated with COVID-19 infection and change themselves to adapt to this unique challenge. Need of the hour is to formulate guidelines and consensus statements to help surgeon to take informed decisions and prepare to give best care to the patien Background: Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection began in Wuhan city of China in December 2019 and soon became a global health problem [1]. It is caused by Coronavirus SARS COV-2. This is an enveloped single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the coronavirus family. Morbidity and mortality were seen in people from all backgrounds from all over the globe due to this virus. Being a new disease, it has significantly affected the lives of people physically as well as emotionally. We aimed to find out the clinical profile, epidemiological features, and associated co-morbidities in patients admitted to the SARI ward at AIIMS Bathinda, Punjab India. Subjects and Methods: A Prospective Cross-Sectional study was done on 244 patients with COVID-19 RAT or RTPCR positive (Real-Time Reverse transcription polymer chain reaction essay of 2019 – n 20v RNA) was done. Data were collected ranging from sex, age, travel history, clinical symptoms, and associated comorbidities. Described cases are the earliest cases of COVID-19 in north India. Main outcome measures: Result: Out of 244 patients that were admitted,23.4 % were of 21-30 years age group, 17.6% were of 31–40-year age group, 13.5% were 41-50 years age group, 13.1% were of 51-60 years age group, 17.2% were of 61-70% are the group. 6.1% were of more than 70 years of age group. In this study 73% were male and 27% were females. 37% were diabetic, 46% had HTN and 37% suffered from CAD. 1% were smokers, and 99% were a non-smoker. and 60.2% were admitted with fever followed by 29.5% with breathlessness. 50.8% with cough, 22.1% with fatigue. Conclusion: This study highlights the key epidemiological and clinical features of covid-19 cases during the early phase of the covid-19 pandemic