Clinical Characteristics Analysis of Hospitalized Patients Infected with the Omicron Variant of the Novel Coronavirus

Abstract

Objective: It’s to analyze the clinical characteristics of hospitalized patients infected with the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus. Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 374 Omicron-infected patients admitted to The Third People's Hospital of Wuhu City from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022. Clinical characteristics were analyzed. Results: The mean time to nucleic acid conversion was 10.93±3.55 days, with a median of 10 days. There was no statistically significant difference in the infection rate between females and males (P>0.05). The highest proportion of patients was in the age group of 0-44 years (P<0.05). Among patients, those without underlying diseases were more prevalent (P<0.05). The majority of patients had no symptoms or mild symptoms (P<0.05). Regarding vaccination status, most patients had completed the primary immunization or booster immunization (P<0.05). The main symptoms were fever and respiratory symptoms (P<0.05). In laboratory tests, some patients showed a decrease in lymphocyte count (31.82%), elevated C-reactive protein (21.93%), elevated alanine transaminase (18.18%), and elevated creatine kinase (12.30%). Most patients had no lesions on chest CT scans (P<0.05). Traditional Chinese medicine was the primary treatment used (P<0.05). The recovery rate was 100.00%. Conclusion: During this epidemic, the nucleic acid conversion for infected patients occurred around 10 days. Female patients had a higher infection rate, and the majority of cases were asymptomatic or mild. Most patients had completed either primary or booster immunization, indicating some resistance of the Omicron variant to vaccines. The main symptoms were fever and respiratory symptoms, and patients had significantly elevated white blood cell counts, neutrophil counts, and lymphocyte counts, indicating significant infection symptoms. Traditional Chinese medicine was the primary treatment used, and the recovery rate was 100.00%, suggesting that treatment with Traditional Chinese medicine was effective for the Omicron variant.