Clinical, serological, and radiological characteristics of COVID-19 patients in Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading across the globe at an alarming rate. The number of COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia is increasing daily. Saudi Arabia is a hot zone for outbreaks of infectious diseases like COVID-19, especially the Makkah area. Hence, determining the clinical characteristics along with serological, hematological, and radiological abnormalities in COVID-19 patients is important for epidemiological decision-making, such as control and surveillance strategies. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study done in a single health-care hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, for 4-month period. We include admitted COVID-19 patients (confirmed with qualitative real-time polymerase chain reaction test) of any gender with age >14 years. The complete data of COVID-19 patients were extracted from electronic medical records. Data were analyzed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 23. Categorical variables were presented as counts and percentages, where means and standard deviations (SDs) were extracted for continuous variables. Fisher's exact test was applied to assess association with mortality. Results: Total enrolled cases were 226. The mean age of the patients was 58 years with SD (±0.4458) and 95% confidence interval (2.688–2.810). The common clinical presentations were fever (77.4%), cough (77%), shortness of breath (53.5%), and myalgia (37.2%). Lymphopenia was observed in 54.4%, anemia in 8.4%, leukopenia in 16.4%, and thrombocytopenia in 9.3% of the patients. The fatality rate was 8.4% (n = 19) over this 4-month period. Conclusion: Advanced age and comorbidity plays a pivotal role in disease mortality. Elderly people's constant evaluation and management is of fundamental importance to decrease mortality.