Epidemiological and clinical features in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 outside of Wuhan, China: Special focus in asymptomatic patients

Liu, Ping; Niu, Ruichao; Chen, Jie; Tang, Yuling; Tang, Wenfang; Xu, Linyan; Feng, Juntao

OBJECTIVES: In December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan City and rapidly spread across the world. The clinical characteristics of affected patients in different regions and populations may differ. Thus, this study aimed to identify the characteristics of the disease to provide an insight about the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. METHODS: Data on the demographic characteristics and clinical findings of the patients admitted at the First Hospital of Changsha from January 1, 2020 to February 10, 2020 were assessed. RESULTS: In this study, there were 8 (3.8%) asymptomatic, 21 (10.0%) mild upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), and 180 (86.1%) pneumonia cases. In total, 47 (22.5%) patients resided in Wuhan, and 45 (21.5%) had recently traveled to Wuhan before disease onset. Moreover, 19 (9.1%) had contact with people from Wuhan, and 69 (33.0%) were family cluster cases. The median incubation period was approximately 6.3 (range: 1.0–20.0) days. Fever and cough were the most common initial symptoms: 99 (49.3%) patients presented with fever, without cough; 59 (29.4%) with cough, without fever; and 33 (16.4%) with both fever and cough. CONCLUSION: The symptoms of patients with COVID-19 were relatively mild outside Wuhan, and family cluster was a remarkable epidemic characteristic. Special attention should be paid to asymptomatic patients.