Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and represents a potentially fatal disease of great global public health importance. As of March 26, 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in 462,801 confirmed cases and 20,839 deaths globally, which is more than those caused by SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2003 and 2013, respectively. The epidemic has posed considerable challenges worldwide. Under a strict mechanism of massive prevention and control, China has seen a rapid decrease in new cases of coronavirus; however, the global situation remains serious. Additionally, the origin of COVID-19 has not been determined and no specific antiviral treatment or vaccine is currently available. Based on the published data, this review systematically discusses the etiology, epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and current intervention measures related to COVID-19 in the hope that it may provide a reference for future studies and aid in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic.

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Aim To analyze the possible risk factors of delayed virus clearance in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods Retrospective analysis of patients with COVID-19 admitted to the isolation wards from our hospital from 19th Jan 2020 to 18th March 2020. We were collected patient’s data including demographic, epidemiologic, and clinical information, as well as laboratory and radiologic findings. The possible confounding risk factors for prolonged viral RNA shedding of COVID-19 during hospitalization were explored by univariate analysis and any variables with a p value less than 0.05 after univariate analysis were included in a subsequent multivariate logistic regression model analysis. Results The 104 patients included 30 mild patients and 74 severe or critically ill patients. The median duration of viral RNA positivity in sputum was 11 days, and the longest duration of viral RNA positivity was 49 days after admission. Multivariate analysis shown that the used with darunavir/cobicistat treatment (odds ratio [OR]: 4.25, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25–14.42, p = 0.020), duration of fever (OR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.03–1.30, p = 0.015) and time to radiological improvement (OR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.01–1.30, p = 0.033) were associated with delayed clearance of SARS-CoV-2 in sputum from COVID-19 patients. Then adjusted in the multivariate binary logistic regression analysis model in severe COVID-19 and found that critical COVID-19 patients (OR: 13.25, 95% CI: 1.45–12.07, p = 0.022), lower virus cycle threshold (CT) values of RT-PCR (OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93–0.99, p = 0.004) and used with darunavir/cobicistat treatment (OR: 8.44, 95% CI: 2.21–32.28, p = 0.022) were associated with delayed clearance of SARS-CoV-2 in sputum from COVID-19 patients. Conclude Clearance of viral RNA in sputum was delayed in severe COVID-19 patients, especially with lower virus CT value. And antivirals with darunavir/cobicistat has little advantage in eliminating SARS-CoV-2.

Aim. To find the predictors of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in hospitalized patients. Methods. A prevalence study compared the characteristics of COVID-19 patients with non-COVID-19 patients from January 19, 2020, to February 18, 2020, during the COVID-19 outbreak. Laboratory test results and pulmonary chest imaging of confirmed COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients were collected by retrieving medical records in our center. Results. 96 COVID-19 patients and 122 non-COVID-19 patients were enrolled in this study. COVID-19 patients were older (53 vs. 39; P  < 0.001) and had higher body mass index (BMI) than non-COVID-19 group (24.21 ± 3.51 vs. 23.00 ± 3.27, P  = 0.011); however, differences in gender were not observed between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that exposure history (OR: 23.34, P  < 0.001), rhinorrhea (odds radio (OR): 0.12, P  = 0.006), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (OR: 1.03, P  = 0.049), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (OR: 1.01, P  = 0.020), lymphocyte (OR: 0.27, P  = 0.007), and bilateral involvement on chest CT imaging (OR: 23.01, P  < 0.001) were independent risk factors for COVID-19. Moreover, bilateral involvement on chest CT imaging (AUC = 0.904, P  < 0.001) had significantly higher AUC than others in predicting COVID-19. Conclusions. Exposure history, elevated ALT and LDH, absence of rhinorrhea, lymphopenia, and bilateral involvement on chest CT imaging provide robust evidence for the diagnosis of COVID-19, especially in resource-limited conditions where nucleic acid detection is not readily available.

Background: The recent outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection results in a considerable morbidity and mortality, mainly in China. The study is to investigate the intrinstic features of infected patients that associated with severe type of this disease.Method: A total of 487 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients were included in analysis.The demographic and epidemiological of patients representing as mild and severe at admission were compared. A step-wise multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to identify significant risk factors associated with severe COVID-19 . A score systemc incorporating risk factors was established for risk stratification and validated in a small cohort during in-hospital follow-up. Results: Of all patients, 49 (10.1%) cases are severe at admission. Severe cases are elder [56(17) vs. 45(19), P<0.001), with more male (73.5% vs. 50.9%, P=0.003). They have a higher incidence of hypertension (53.1% vs. 16.7%, P<0.001), diabetes (14.3% vs. 5.0%, P=0.009), cardiovascular diseases (8.2% vs. 1.6%, P=0.003) and malignancy (4.1% vs. 0.7%, P=0.025), and less exposure to epidemic area (49.0% vs. 65.1%, P=0.027), but more infected familiy members(P=0.031). On multivariate analysis, elder age, male and presence of hypertension are independently associated with severe disease at admission.A host risk score, incorporating age, sex and hypertension history, clearly stratifies risk of developing severe type of COVID-19 both in patients at admission and during in-hospital follow-up.Conclusions: Elder age, male and presence of hypertension are associated with host susceptibility to developing severe COVID-19. The host risk score may be a useful tool to identify high risk indiviuals but requires validation.