Clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients hospitalized at Clinique Ngaliema, a public hospital in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Objectives To describe the clinical characteristics of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 at Clinique Ngaliema, a public hospital, in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Methods This retrospective study analyzed medical records including socio-demographics, past medical history, clinical manifestation, comorbidities, laboratory data, treatment and disease outcome of 160 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, with confirmed result of SARS-CoV-2 viral infection. Results The median age of patients was 54 years (IQR: 38–64), and there was no significant gender difference (51% of male). The most common comorbidities were hypertension (55 [34%]), diabetes (31 [19%]) and obesity (13 [8%]). Fever (93 [58%]), cough (92 [57%]), fatigue (87 [54%]), shortness of breath (72 [45%]) and myalgia (33 [21%]) were the most common symptoms, upon admission. Patients were categorized into mild (92 [57%]), moderate (19 [12%]) and severe (49 [31%]). Severe patients were older and were more likely to have comorbidities, compared to mild ones. The majority of patients (92% [147 of 160]) patients received hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine phosphate. Regression model revealed that older age, lower SpO2, higher heart rate and elevated AST at admission were all risk factors associated with in-hospital death. The prevalence of COVID-19 and malaria co-infection was 0.63% and 70 (44%) of all patients received antimalarial treatment before hospitalization. Conclusion Our findings indicated that the epidemiological and clinical feature of COVID-19 patients in Kinshasa are broadly similar to previous reports from other settings. Older age, lower SpO2, tachycardia, and elevated AST could help to identify patients at higher risk of death at an early stage of the illness. Plasmodium spp co-infection was not common in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Prevalence and characteristics of malaria among COVID-19 individuals: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and analysis of case reports

“…We examined the full-texts of the remaining 385 articles, resulting in the exclusion of 375 articles due to the following reasons: 192 were review articles; 47 were commentaries, corrections, news items, letters to the editor, short reports, and communications; 43 were in vitro studies; 24 were about COVID-19 only, with non-relevant parameters; 16 were COVID-19 model predictions; 9 were conducted before 2019; 8 were molecular docking studies; 7 were non-relevant case reports; 6 were systematic and scoping reviews; 6 were community implementations; 5 were surveys; 5 were clinical trials related to COVID-19 treatment efficacy/safety but not associated with malaria; 4 were animal studies; 2 were cost-analytic studies; and 1 study reported the data of the same group of participants. After these exclusions, 10 studies [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] met the eligibility criteria and were included. An additional two studies [20,21] were retrieved from Google Scholar and included.…”

Epidemiological, clinical Characteristics and mortality of patients Infected with SARS-CoV-2 Admitted of Kinshasa University Hospital, Democratic Republic of the Congo from March 24, 2020 to January 30, 2021: Two waves, two faces?

“…In the first wave of over 60 years, respiratory distress, desaturation (<89%) and severe COVID-19 stage emerged as factors associated with death, while in the second wave it was mainly respiratory distress, desaturation (<89%) and severe stage. Age is no longer associated with mortality as clinicians have drawn particular attention to the elderly as previous studies in the first wave of DRC had already emphasized age as a mortality factor [21][22][23] . Severe stage and desaturation still remain a great challenge in the management of COVID-19, especially when the patient consults late.…”

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of critically ill COVID-19 patients in Sfax, Tunisia

“…In Africa, there is little information available about the clinical characteristics and prognosis of COVID-19-infected patients [4][5][6][7][8]. Global mortality rates range from 4% to 5.6% [4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…In Africa, there is little information available about the clinical characteristics and prognosis of COVID-19-infected patients [4][5][6][7][8]. Global mortality rates range from 4% to 5.6% [4][5][6][7][8]. In-hospital mortality is high, in particular for patients with acute respiratory distress requiring ICU admission and mechanical ventilation [4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…Global mortality rates range from 4% to 5.6% [4][5][6][7][8]. In-hospital mortality is high, in particular for patients with acute respiratory distress requiring ICU admission and mechanical ventilation [4][5][6][7][8]. In fact, the mortality rate reported in severe cases ranges from 50% to 100% [4][5][6][7][8].…”