Favorable outcomes of elderly COVID-19 patients in Guangzhou, China: a retrospective, observational study

Abstract

Objective: To clarify the outcomes of elderly patients with COVID-19.Methods: All 265 confirmed adult patients with COVID-19 were included in this retrospective study, 43 (16.2%) of whom were 65 years and older. Electronic medical records of the subjects were reviewed to obtain information on clinical characteristics and outcomes. The allocations of medical resource were also recorded.Results: Only one death case occurred in the elderly. The mortality of elderly patients was no higher than that of young patients (2.3% vs. 0%, P = 0.126). The cure rate was 95.3% in elderly patients and 99.5% in young patients (P = 0.067), and the duration of hospitalization is 27 days in elderly patients and 18 days in young patients (P = 0.001). The elderly suffered from more comorbidities (67.4% vs. 24.8%, P < 0.001), most of which is hypertension. Significantly more severe cases occurred in elderly patients compared with young patients (37.2% vs. 16.7%, P = 0.004). The elderly were more likely to present with complications including acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute myocardial injury, septic shock and acute kidney injury (all P < 0.05), respectively. No medical staffs were infected during the treatment of COVID-19.Conclusion: The cure rate and the mortality of the elderly seemed to be no worse than that of the young, though the elderly were with longer hospitalization. Elderly patients with COVID-19 could be treatable if handled properly. More severe cases and complications in elderly patients should prompt for more complex treatment and special considerations.

The role of pre-existing chronic disease in cardiac complications from SARS-CoV-2 infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Four of the studies measured cardiac outcomes on the day of admission, [32][33][34][35] while one did not specify the time of assessment. 31 The studies were conducted in two geographical locations (People's Republic of China [31][32][33][34] and Washington, U.S.A. 35 ) with a total of 179 COVID-19 patients developing de novo cardiac complications and 874 COVID-19 patients without de novo cardiac complications. Patients who presented with SARS-CoV-2 associated cardiac complications were, on average, 10 years older than in those who did not (Table 2).…”

“…The authors of the remaining 56 studies were contacted to request appropriate data (as they presented only aggregate data that did not specify the cross-over between preexisting chronic disease and outcome), to which three groups responded with data contributions. Thus, a final of five studies were included in the meta-analysis (31)(32)(33)(34)(35). The selection process is shown in Figure 1.…”

“…45 High-quality studies were defined as studies fulfilling NOS score of minimum 7. Data were synthesised from five different and high-quality studies [31][32][33][34][35] . This systematic review was conducted based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) 46 and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) 47 statements.…”

No Evidence of Re-infection or Person-to-Person Transmission in Cured COVID-19 Patients in Guangzhou, a Retrospective Observational Study

“…Thirdly, an effective prevention and control strategy ensured that the cured patients were kept away from other confirmed COVID-19 patients. Finally, the medical staffs working in the front line have not been infected till date, which effectively prevented secondary infections and spread of the disease in the hospital (11). Re-infection cases were reported in Hong Kong and the United States (12,13).…”

No evidence of Re-infection or Human-to-Human Transmission in Cured COVID-19 Patients, a Retrospective Cohort Study

“…Thirdly, an effective prevention and control strategy ensured that the cured patients were kept away from other confirmed COVID-19 patients. Finally, the medical staffs working in the front line have not been infected till date, which effectively prevented secondary infections and spread of the disease in the hospital [11]. Given that no re-infections were found in patients with negative results for IgG, the role of adaptive immunity in cured patients need to be further studied and verified.…”