Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of the domestic and repatriated (Covid-19)‎ infections in Al Najaf governorate, Iraq

Abstract EN

Background: Al-Najaf governorate, Iraq, has encounteredan outbreak and wide spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

The epidemiologicalfeatures and clinical characteristics of (Covid-19) infection outbreak havebeenproclaimedbut a detailed clinical course and risk factors for mortality including medical comorbidities and severity of the illness at the time of presentation, have not been well described.

Objective: To identify the potential riskfactors affecting the outcome of (Covid-19) infections.

Methods: From February 24 to April 7, 2020, a case series study was done on 123 PCR-confirmed cases of (Covid-19) admitted to Al-Hakeem Hospital and Quarantine Center (AHQC) in Al-Najaf governorate, Iraq.

Demographics, clinical and laboratory data were gathered from a local database at (AHQC).

SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) was used for statistical analysis.

The frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations were used as descriptive statistics.

The Chi square test or Yates correctedChi square test were used when appropriate, and (Pvalue ≤0.

05) was regarded as significant.

Results: Among the 123 patients, most infections occurred inside Iraq 96 (78%).

The cohort included 67 (54.

5%) females and 56 (45.

5%) males, with a mean age of 32.

6 ± 18.

56 years.

Most infections were mild or asymptomatic (72.

3%).

The most common symptoms were fever (74.

8%), followed by cough (66.

7%), headache (59.

3%), and dyspnoea (28.

5%).

Most patients108 (87.

8%) recovered while 10 (8.

1%) patients improved clinically and awaiting the throat swab results, one patient (0.

8%) remained in critical condition.

Unfortunately, four patients died (3.

3%).

There is a significant association between medical comorbidities, severity of illness and patients' outcome (Pvalue <0.

001).

Conclusions: The potential risk factors of medical comorbidities and severity of illness helped cliniciansand health workersto recognize patients with gloomyprognosis at an early stage and provided the rationale for a treatment strategy of infected patients.

Repatriated cases, older age group, and male gender were associated with severe illness.