Diabetes, high fever, low oxygen levels, and major heart damage are four symptoms that correlate to severe cases of COVID-19, a new study reports. This is the first study in South Korea confirming the risk factors that are predictive of a serious case of the disease.
The report, titled “Prognostic Factors for Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Daegu, Korea,” was published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science (JKMS) by a research team at the Yeungnam University College of Medicine, in Daegu. The researchers analyzed 110 COVID-19 patients (23 serious cases) from Feb. 19 to Apr. 15.
The study found that 48.3% of COVID-19 patients with diabetes developed a serious case, compared to just 11.1% of patients without diabetes. The study found that 41.0% of patients with a body temperature at or above 37.8 degrees developed a severe case, compared to 9.9% of those with a lower temperature. Moreover, 58.6% of patients with peripheral oxygen saturation (oxygen paired with hemoglobin in the blood) below 92% developed a severe case, compared to 7.4% of patients with oxygen saturation at or above 92%. A whopping 85.7% of patients whose level of Creatine Kinase-MB (an enzyme used to measure the degree of heart damage) exceeded 6.3ng/ml developed a severe case, compared to 31.6% of those with a lower level.
“A serious case developed in 100% of patients with three or four symptoms, 60% of patients with two symptoms, and 13% of patients with just one symptom. Appropriate assessment and close monitoring of risk factors should make it possible to reduce the fatality rate,” the researchers said.
By Choi Ha-yan, staff reporter
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