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Clinical Course of Asymptomatic and Mild COVID-19: Early Clinical Features of Patients Admitted to a Living and Treatment Support Center in Jecheon, South Korea (Part II)
37 Pages Posted: 7 May 2020
More...Abstract
Background: Living and treatment support centers (LTSCs) offer patient isolation and medical support for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), owing to the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in South Korea.
Methods: Text messages, which were linked to a questionnaire, were sent to subjects admitted to the LTSC in Jecheon. The questionnaire comprised 10 questions on gender, place where the test was conducted, reason to be tested for COVID-19, presence or absence of symptoms at the time of diagnosis, types, and the duration of symptoms.
Findings: Ninety-seven of 130 subjects responded to this questionnaire. The mean age was 34.0 ± 16.0 years, and 23 subjects were asymptomatic, whereas 74 were symptomatic at the time of diagnosis. Among the asymptomatic group, 13 subjects developed symptoms later. The mean duration of symptoms in the symptomatic group was 11.3 ± 11.2 days. Myalgia was the most frequent symptom (n = 45), followed by loss of smell and taste (n = 42). A month after the diagnosis of COVID-19, 47 subjects still remained at the LTSC.
Interpretation: Symptoms of patients with mild COVID-19 admitted to the LTSC are different from those of hospitalized patients. Asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic subjects can shed the virus for over one month. Early isolation of patients admitted to the LTSC plays an important role in the efficient use of medical resources and prevention of COVID-19 transmission.
Funding Statement: There was no funding source for this study.
Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests relevant to this study.
Ethics Approval Statement: The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of National Health Insurance Ilsan Hospital (IRB number:2020-04-009). The requirement for written informed consent from patients was waived due to the retrospective nature of the study and its impracticability.
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