A Case Series of Patients with COVID-19 Infection Admitted to a Secondary Care Center in Turkey

COVID-19 is a zoonotic viral infection that first emerged in Wuhan, China, the source of which is thought to be a seafood market, and then spread rapidly from China to the world. 

The aim of this observational study was to analyze cases with COVID-19 admitted to a single secondary care center in Turkey. 

This is a descriptive study performed during the period from March 22 to 30, 2020, in Kars Harakani State Hospital, Kars, Turkey. We evaluated all patients with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to confirm COVID-19. Demographic characteristics, clinical signs and symptoms, comorbidities, blood tests results, chest computed tomography (CT) scan findings and outcomes including hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and survival of the patients were recorded. 

During the one week study period, we took 435 nasopharyngeal swabs from suspicious cases and found 22 patients (4 females, 18 males) whose COVID-19 infection was confirmed via RT-PCR. Their ages ranged from 18 to 86 years, with an average of 45.59±25.02. Ten (45%) of the cases were current smokers. The body temperature of the cases ranged from 36.1 to 38.4 oC, with an average of 36.78 ± 0.65. Four cases were asymptomatic and the most common complaint was cough (82%). Hypertension (23%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (23%) were the most common coexisting diseases. In chest CT scan, ground glass densities were detected in 7 (32%) patients and infiltration was observed in 8 (36.3%). The mortality rate of the cases was 9% (n=2). 

The most common complaint of patients was cough. Hypertension and COPD were the most prevalent comorbidities among patients.