• Israel Júnior Borges do Nascimento, Luiz Ricardo Pinto, Valéria Alves Fernandes, Israel Molina Romero, João Antonio de Queiroz Oliveira, Milena Soriano Marcolino, and Maria Fátima Leite.
• PharmD. Clinical Pathologist and Medical Research Specialist, University Hospital and School of Medicine, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil; Medical Research Specialist, School of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2020 Nov 1; 138 (6): 490497490-497.

BackgroundSince February 2020, data on the clinical features of patients infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and their clinical evolution have been gathered and intensively discussed, especially in countries with dramatic dissemination of this disease.ObjectiveTo assess the clinical features of Brazilian patients with SARS-CoV-2 and analyze its local epidemiological features.Design And SettingObservational retrospective study conducted using data from an official electronic platform for recording confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases.MethodsWe extracted data from patients based in the state of Pernambuco who were registered on the platform of the Center for Strategic Health Surveillance Information, between February 26 and May 25, 2020. Clinical signs/symptoms, case evolution over time, distribution of confirmed, recovered and fatal cases and relationship between age group and gender were assessed.ResultsWe included 28,854 patients who were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (56.13% females), of median age 44.18 years. SARS-CoV-2 infection was most frequent among adults aged 30-39 years. Among cases that progressed to death, the most frequent age range was 70-79 years. Overall, the mortality rate in the cohort was 8.06%; recovery rate, 30.7%; and hospital admission rate (up to the end of follow-up), 17.3%. The average length of time between symptom onset and death was 10.3 days. The most commonly reported symptoms were coughing (42.39%), fever (38.03%) and dyspnea/respiratory distress with oxygen saturation < 95% (30.98%).ConclusionCoughing, fever and dyspnea/respiratory distress with oxygen saturation < 95% were the commonest symptoms. The case-fatality rate was 8.06% and the hospitalization rate, 17.3%.

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