Intensive care admission for Coronavirus OC43 respiratory tract infections

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus OC43 infection causes severe pneumonia in patients presenting with comorbidities, but clinical signs alone do not allow for viral identification. OBJECTIVES: To analyze acute manifestations of Coronavirus OC43 infections and outcomes of patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective and monocentric study performed during a Coronavirus OC43 outbreak. We used multiplex PCR to detect an OC43 outbreak in Reunion Island during the 2016 Southern Hemisphere's winter: seven admissions to the ICU. RESULTS: Mean age of patients was 71 [67;76] years, SAPS II was 42 [28;53], pneumonia severity index 159 [139;182] vs 73 [40.5;107] for patients in medical wards, and 43% required mechanical ventilation. Comorbidities were diabetes mellitus (87%), chronic respiratory failure (57%), and chronic renal failure (29%). One patient died from Haemophilus influenzae co-infection. CONCLUSION: As for MERS Co-V infections, underlying comorbidities impacted the clinical outcomes of OC43 infections.