Abstract
Objectives:A bunch of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China, was caused by a novel beta-corona virus, (COVID-19) in December 2019 from where it spread rapidly across the globe. The aim of the study was to find out relevant reasons and offered suggestions to reduce the risk of infection and check clinical outcomes of the infected healthcare workers.Methods:This study was conducted in COVID-19 Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) laboratory, Bolan Medical Complex Hospital Quetta, Baluchistan from May to June 2020. Eight hundred (n=800) health workers and their families were included in this study. Data were obtained with standardized data collection forms shared by the WHO. Nasopharyngeal samples were collected following the WHO protocols. RNA was extracted and amplified using real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Serum ferritin level, C-reactive protein, D-dimer and radiological results of the RT-PCR confirmed individuals were also recorded and analyzed.Results:Among (n=800) health workers and their families 457 (57.1%) were COVID-19 PCR negative, 332 (41.5%) positive and 11 (1.4%) individuals were PCR positive but asymptomatic carriers, 234 (29.5%) were male and 103 (12.9%) were female. Mortality rate in our study was very low, only three patients (0.87%) died of this COVID-19 pneumonia.Conclusion:Our results showed increased rate of positive cases with fortunately lower mortality rate, although this novel pneumonia was associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS and intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Timely decisions, risk awareness knowledge and supply of necessary equipments are inevitable for the control of such epidemics.
Highlights
Corona viruses belong to the family Corona viridae and the order Nidovirales and mostly dispersed in humans and other mammals
Study population: Eight hundred (n=800) health workers and their families were included in this study after review and approval by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and institutional ethical committee
Expected population was 8,000 and its 10% = 800.11 Samples were collected from those patients who presented with pneumonia symptoms or had contact history with COVID-19 positive patients and were suspicious
Summary
Corona viruses belong to the family Corona viridae and the order Nidovirales and mostly dispersed in humans and other mammals. These are enveloped, non-segmented and positive sense RNA viruses.[1] The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a novel corona virus ‘‘2019nCoV’’ responsible for the current outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China in December, 2019.2 In majority of the COVID-19 cases fever, cough and other clinical symptoms. Fever, which occurred in 99% of the infected individuals, fatigue, shortness of breath, bilateral patchy infiltration on imaging and dry cough were common, diarrhea, vomiting and nasal congestion were rare symptoms of the disease.[7] Mortality rate of COVID-19 was 2% which is lesser to MERS and SARS.[8] Health workers are always prone to infectious diseases. In a previous report the spreading rate of the disease to health workers was 29%.9 In Wuhan City, a surgery patient infected 14 health professionals even before fever onset.[10]
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