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A screening clinic in Seoul’s Yongsan District on Aug. 3. (Yonhap News)

Around 98% of South Korean novel coronavirus patients under the age of 50 recovered without oxygen therapy or a respirator, a study shows. The mortality rate 28 days after the appearance of symptoms stood at 0% for patients under 50. The results came from a clinical analysis by a research team for the National Medical Center’s central clinic committee for novel infections, which tracked and observed 3,060 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at 55 South Korean hospitals for a period of 28 days after their symptoms first appeared.

The team announced on Aug. 3 that it had published a paper including clinical progress and prognosis analysis data in the Journal of Korean Medical Science (JKMS), an international journal published by the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences. The analysis was based on assembled data on symptoms and treatment progress for COVID-19 patients admitted to 55 hospitals nationwide between Jan. 20 and May 31. The median patient age was 43 years, and 43.6% of patients were men.

According to the analysis, the seriousness of symptoms varied strongly with age. Among patients under 50, only 1.2% were classified as “critical” or “severe” and in need of oxygen therapy or a respirator 14 days after the onset of symptoms. The rate for those 50 and older was 17.3%. Differences were also observed in mortality rates. By the 28th day after symptoms appeared, none of the 1,324 patients under 50 had died. In contrast, seven out of 50 patients aged 80 or older had passed away, a mortality rate of 14%. The mortality rate for patients aged 70-79 was also high at 5.8%, or six out of 104. Rates were lower for younger patients, including 0.9% for those aged 60-69 (two out of 215) and 0.5% for those aged 50-59 (two out of 375).

Results of clinical analysis

A patient’s condition at the time of hospitalization also showed a large influence on recovery. Of the 91 patients whose condition had deteriorated to the point where they required oxygen therapy at the time of admission, 65 (71.5%) had recovered 28 days after the onset of symptoms, while seven (7.7%) had died. The remaining 19 were still undergoing oxygen therapy. Among patients who were admitted in critical condition and required a respirator, only seven (19.7%) had recovered by the 28th day after symptom onset, while eight (22.2%) had died.

The research team explained that “nearly all of the patients under the age of 50 recovered without administration of oxygen.”

“With clinical progress and healthcare systems varying among countries, suitable treatment strategies need to be developed based on the data,” it advised. The central clinical committee, which includes experts in infectious diseases, previously used the clinical findings as a basis for recommending on July 7 that the South Korean government relax its standards for hospitalizing and discharging COVID-19 patients. Its argument was that in the interest of priority allocation of medical staff and sickbeds to severe patients, those with mild or no systems could be sufficiently treated at community treatment centers.

In a regular briefing the same day, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Director Jung Eun-kyeong said, “The percentage of all COVID-19 patients who required oxygen therapy was around 9%.”

“In terms of risk factors that have had the largest impact on progression into severe condition, the first is age, and the second is underlying conditions such as chronic kidney disease, hypertension, and diabetes,” she added.

By Hwang Ye-rang, staff reporter

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