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
Junior Rika Matangila, Ritha Kibambe Nyembu, Gloire Mosala Telo, Christian Djuba Ngoy, Taty Msueun Sakobo, Joel Mbembo Massolo, Blandine Mbo Muyembe, Richard Kapela Mvwala, Cedric Kabemba Ilunga, Emmanuel Bakilo Limbole, Jeff Mukengeshay Ntalaja, Roger Minga Kongo
PLOS ONE, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0244272
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
Supporting information S1
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'abstract': '<jats:sec id="sec001">\n'
'<jats:title>Objectives</jats:title>\n'
'<jats:p>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).</jats:p>\n'
'</jats:sec>\n'
'<jats:sec id="sec002">\n'
'<jats:title>Methods</jats:title>\n'
'<jats:p>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.</jats:p>\n'
'</jats:sec>\n'
'<jats:sec id="sec003">\n'
'<jats:title>Results</jats:title>\n'
'<jats:p>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.</jats:p>\n'
'</jats:sec>\n'
'<jats:sec id="sec004">\n'
'<jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title>\n'
'<jats:p>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. <jats:italic>Plasmodium spp</jats:italic> '
'co-infection was not common in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.</jats:p>\n'
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