[Clinical analysis of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome in Beijing area].

OBJECTIVE

To study the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory characteristics, treatment and prognosis of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

METHODS

Clinical data from 250 patients with SARS were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS

The age of the patients were 36 +/- 16, 44.0% (n = 110) were male, and 56.0% (n = 140) were female. The incubation period was 8 +/- 7 days. The most common symptom were fever (100. 0%), cough (72.8%), and fatigue (70.0%). 27.2% of the patients had decreased white blood cell counts. 64.2% of the patients had decreased lymphocytes. 91.4% and 80.6% of the patients had decreased CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) cell counts, respectively. 162 patients (64.8%) had decreased SaO(2). Serum ALT, AST, LDH and CK were elevated in 45.2%, 29.4%, 42.1%, and 18.3% of the patients respectively. Serum IgG to SARS virus was positive in 69.9% of the patients at recovery stage. General combination therapy including antibiotics, anti-viral agents, glucocorticoids and immunity-enhancing agents, was used. Artificial ventilation was used in 196 patients including 8 for whom invasive mechanical ventilation was used Eighty-one (32.4%) were diagnosed as having severe type of SARS. 25 patients died of SARS.

CONCLUSIONS

SARS is a highly communicable disease and mostly affects youth and people in their prime of life. It has characteristic clinical manifestations. Combination therapy can be very effective for most patients.