Symptom Diary–Based Analysis of Disease Course among Patients with Mild Coronavirus Disease,Germany, 2020 |
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| Authors: | Patricia Nicole Wiegele,Iyad Kabar,Laura Kerschke,Christopher Froemmel,Anna Hü sing-Kabar,Hartmut Schmidt,Elena Vorona,Richard Vollenberg,Phil-Robin Tepasse |
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| Affiliation: | University Hospital Muenster Department of Medicine B for Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Endocrinology, and Clinical Infectiology, Muenster, Germany (P.N. Wiegele, I. Kabar, C. Froemmel, A. Hüsing-Kabar, H. Schmidt, E. Vorona, R. Vollenberg, P.-R. Tepasse);University of Muenster Institute of Biostatistics and Clinical Research, Muenster (L. Kerschke) |
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| Abstract: | Limited information is available on the clinical course of outpatients with mild coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This information is critically important to inform public health prevention strategies and to provide anticipatory guidance to patients, primary care providers, and employers. We retrospectively assessed the daily prevalence of symptoms in 313 COVID-19 outpatients for the first 20 days of illness. Generalized estimating equations were used to assess the probability of symptom occurrence over time. Fatigue (91%), cough (85%), and headache (78%) were the most common symptoms and occurred a median of 1 day from symptom onset. Neurologic symptoms, such as loss of taste (66%) and anosmia (62%), and dyspnea (51%) occurred considerably later (median 3–4 days after symptom onset). Symptoms of COVID-19 are similar to those of other respiratory pathogens, so symptomatic patients should be tested more frequently for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 during influenza season to prevent further spread of COVID-19. |
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| Keywords: | COVID-19 pneumonia acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS symptom diary symptoms coronavirus disease SARS-CoV-2 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 viruses respiratory infections zoonoses Germany |
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