Adherence of Mild and Asymptomatic Covid-19 Positive Patients to Ain Shams University Home Isolation Protocol

Abstract

Abstract Background Egypt has reported almost 515,103 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) with 24,779 deaths from January 3rd, 2020 to May 29th, 2022. To date, the clinical picture of coronavirus infection among Egyptian patients has not been well-characterized. Asymptomatic infection and mild cases make up a large proportion of infections all over the world. According to Ain Shams University guidelines, asymptomatic and mild cases can be isolated at home; however it is unclear to what extent patients adhere to home isolation guidelines, and whether home isolation was in fact effective in reducing infection among the patient’s family contacts. Aim of the Work The aim of this study was: Describe the socio-demographic characteristics of asymptomatic and mild patients eligible for home isolation and measure the adherence of patients isolated at home to the recommended control measures with telemedicine follow up. Patients and Methods This is a retrospective cohort study conducted in Ain Shams University on 400 patients who were diagnosed as positive for covid-19, classified as asymptomatic or mild cases at presentation and recommended for home isolation. Results In our cohort, Patients that were adherent to home isolation guidelines had similar household infection rate to those with less compliance except for those who had more than one bathroom, household infection had significant negative correlation to number of bathrooms (p = 0.003) because the patient was able to have personal bathrooms. Regarding family members, 57.8% of cases had members with no symptoms of COVID-19 and 43.2 % had members with symptoms or positive test. Conclusion Our study was limited with the low number of patients from a single centre. However, our findings showed that self-isolation at home may be an alternative to manage mild cases or asymptomatic patients when applied with careful and close observation.