Clinical characteristics and outcomes of confirmed COVID-19 patients in the early months of the pandemic in Tanzania: A multicentre cohort study

  • Nicholaus P. Mnyambwa
  • , Clara Lubinza
  • , Esther Ngadaya
  • , Mbazi Senkoro
  • , Godfather Kimaro
  • , Gibson B. Kagaruki
  • , Stanley Binagi
  • , Amani Malima
  • , Paul Kazyoba
  • , Ndekya Oriyo
  • , Janneth M. Mghamba
  • , Aman Fredrick
  • , Kaushik Ramaiya
  • , Alimuddin Zumla
  • , Shabbar Jaffar
  • , Sayoki G. Mfinanga

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background

We performed a prospective cohort study of the clinical presentations and management outcomes of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients in the early months of the pandemic at two hospitals in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Methods

Between April 1 - May 31, 2020, laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients seen at two tertiary facilities were consecutively enrolled in the study and followed up for 21 days.

Results

We enrolled 121 COVID-19 patients; 112 (92.6%) were admitted while 9 (7.4%) were seen as outpatients. The median (IQR) age of patients was 41 (30-54) years; 72 (59.5%) were male. The medians (IQR) reported days from hospital admission to recovery and death was 10 (6-18) and 5.5 (3-9), respectively. Forty-four (36.4%) patients had at least one underlying condition. Of the 112 admissions, 17 (15.2%) went to ICU, of which 14 (82.3%) died. At the end of follow-up, 93(76.9%) recovered, and 18 (14.9%) died, 7 (5.8%) remained asymptomatic, and 1 (0.8%) was still ill. Overall, 46 (38.3%) patients had at least one underlying condition.

Conclusion

Three-quarters of all COVID-19 patients were aged less than 60 years, reflecting Africa's young population structure. High admission rates to ICU and death rates were observed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)118-125
Number of pages8
JournalIJID Regions
Volume2
Early online date6 Jan 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2022

Keywords

  • clinical outcome
  • COVID-19
  • SARS-Cov-2

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