Epidemiologic features and clinical course of COVID-19: a retrospective analysis of 19 patients in Germany

Background: SARS-coronavirus-2 causes coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Materials & methods: We here report epidemiology; clinical, radiological and laboratory characteristics; and outcomes of COVID-19 in 19 patients confirmed by reverse-transcriptase–PCR. Results: In 19 PCR-confirmed cases (median age 69 years; 63% males), the most common presentations were fever (79%), cough (79%) and fatigue (79%). The most common comorbidities were hypertension (47%), hypothyroidism (32%) and cardiac diseases (32%). All patients received symptomatic treatment. Ampicillin/sulbactam was prescribed for 50% of cases. Also, 13 (68.4%) recovered and discharged, 9 (47.3%) needed intensive care unit admission and 4 (21.1%) cases died Conclusion: The included cases had variable clinical outcomes following supportive and antibiotic treatments. These findings may contribute to development of more effective strategies for infection control.