COVID-19 outbreak in Iraqi Kurdistan: The first report characterizing epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, and radiological findings of the disease

Abstract

Introduction: On March 11, 2020, the novel coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. The disease was named COVID-19 standing for coronavirus disease 2019. The objectives were to determine the epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics of COVID-19 patients.

Methods: In this prospective descriptive study, 15 confirmed hospitalized cases of COVID-19 between 18th March and April 7, 2020 were followed-up till discharge.

Results: There were 15 reported patients infected by 3 imported index cases from Europe. The mean age of the patients was 28.06 (SD: 16.42 years). The patients' age stratification was as follows: 0-5 (2, 13.3%); 6-18 (2, 13.3); 19-50 (10, 66.7%), and 51-64 years (1, 6.7%). The patients were male (9, 60.0%) and female (6, 40.0%). Most of the patients had mild disease severity (13, 86.7%), followed by mild-moderate (1, 6.7%) and moderate-severe (1, 6.7%). The study revealed that 6 patients were asymptomatic, and 9 patients were symptomatic. The most common symptoms were: fever (n = 8; 53.3%), cough (n = 7; 46.7%), shortness of breath (n = 3; 20.0%), fatigue (n = 3; 20.0%), and taste and smell disorders (n = 4; 26.7%). All patients were recovered and discharged over a median of 8 between 8 and 21 days. The mean and Std. deviation values of the hematological were: WBC: 6.57 (1.86); neutrophil count: 3.75 (1.26); lymphocyte count: 1.87 (0.41); Hb: 13.89 (1.26); platelet count: 207.67 (52.21).

Conclusion: All COVID-19 cases were linked to foreign visits with few local transmissions to close contacts without community transmission. The majority of cases were mild illnesses with full recovery.

Keywords: Clinical manifestations; Infection; Respiratory disorders.

Fig. 1

Schematic guide of managing COVID-19 patients [designed by Dr. Muayad A. Merza].

Fig. 2

Timeline of patients with COVID-19 from admission to discharged a ) Comparison of WBC count in patients with different disease stages. b ) Comparison of lymphocyte count in patients with different disease stages. c ) Comparison of CRP in patients with different disease stages.

Fig. 3

Comparison of hematological parameters in patients with different stages.