Epidemiology and clinical outcome of COVID-19: A multi-centre cross sectional study from Bangladesh

Mannan, Adnan; Mehedi, H. M. Hamidullah; Chy, Naim Hasan; Qayum, Md. Omar; Akter, Farhana; Rob, Abdur; Biswas, Prasun; Hossain, Sanjida; Ayub, Mustak Ibn

BackgroundCOVID-19 turned into a global pandemic rapidly. This study was aimed to investigate SARS-CoV-2 associated epidemiology and clinical outcomes in Bangladesh in order to understand the future course of COVID-19 pandemic and develop prevention approaches. Design and MethodsA cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted for a sample of 1,021 RT-PCR confirmed COVID-19 cases admitted in six different hospitals in Bangladesh and who recovered four weeks prior to the interview date. ResultsOf the total sample, 111 (10.9%) cases were asymptomatic while the number of symptomatic cases were 910 (89.1%). Higher prevalence of COVID-19 persisted in the male population (75%), cohorts having B (+) ve blood group (36.3%) and for the 31-40 age group. More than 85% of the sample reported a BCG vaccination mark. Common symptoms observed in our study samples were fever (72.4%), cough (55.9%), loss of taste (40.7%) and body ache (40%); whereas among the biochemical parameters, Neutrophil (46.4%), D-dimer (46.1%), and Ferritin (37.9%) levels were found elevated. Post-COVID complications including pain (31.8%), loss of concentration (24.4%) and anxiety or depression (23.1%) were also found significantly prevalent in the symptomatic cases with commodities. ConclusionOur study has shown that adult males aged in between 31-40 in Bangladesh are more vulnerable to being infected with COVID-19. The study also indicates a rising trend of the asymptomatic cases as the pandemic progresses deeper in time, and hence, deployment of interventions to curb further spread of community infection is necessary to avoid the grave outcomes of COVID-19 in Bangladesh.