Clinical characteristics of the delta variant of COVID-19 in Jingmen, China

Abstract

There has been an epidemic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) delta variant in Jingmen, China, and the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of all patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in an epidemic are rarely reported. All the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients diagnosed in Jingmen in August 2021 were enrolled in this study. Epidemiological data and clinical characteristics were analyzed. Of 58 patients (38 male and 20 female), 11 were children. The mean age was 35 years, and the median age was 39 years (range, 1-60 years; interquartile range, 28-51). The infectivity of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant may have increased, but pathogenicity could have decreased significantly. The vast majority of patients had either no symptoms or mild symptoms. Even though the variant virus is highly contagious, control measures have proven effective. Symptoms included fever (53%), cough (48%), headache (6%), runny nose (13%), loss of smell and taste (6%), elevated C-reactive protein (26%), increased neutrophil count (13%), decreased eosinophil count (21%), and elevated mononuclear granulocytes (26%). Thirty-eight of the 47 adults showed lymphocyte decline, but none of the children showed a significant decline, and more than half of them showed an increase. Thirty patients had no pneumonia, 27 patients had mild pneumonia, and only one patient with multiple chronic diseases had severe pneumonia. None of the 11 children had been vaccinated, 10 did not have pneumonia, and 1 had a small lung lesion. The number of new patients disappeared in 15 days after the lockdown of the city.