Treatment of COVID-19 Patients at a Medical College Hospital in Bangladesh

Background and aim: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has induced a sense of panic around the world as the disease is highly contagious and has been spreading in full swing during last 5 months causing millions of COVID-19 patients and hundreds of thousands of deaths. Bangladesh, a country of 170 million people, is not an exception regarding COVID-19; it has reported several thousand COVID-19 patients with several hundred of deaths. This observational study has been planned to assess the scope and limitation of management strategy against COVID-19 patients in a medical college hospital of Bangladesh with available drugs in a real-life situation.

Materials and methods: All patients in this cohort (N: 33) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and they attended the hospital with variable presenting symptoms those ranged from cough and fever to respiratory distress and pneumonia. As per the protocol, the patients were regularly evaluated for several parameters of COVID-19-related pathology. Before discharge, they were checked for SARS-CoV-2 for 2 consecutive times. The management strategy included standard of care (SoC) and administration of hydroxychloroquine and azythromycin, available in Bangladesh.

Results: Out of total 33 patients, 1 patient died at day 4 day after admission. Two patients developed severe complications and were referred to tertiary hospital in Dhaka (2 and 3 days after admission), the capital of Bangladesh, where they recovered and were discharged from hospital after being SARS-CoV-2 negative. The rest 30 patients were discharged from the medical college hospital after being negative for SARS-CoV-2 in two subsequent assessments and improvement of their COVID-related symptoms. The average hospital stay of these patients was 14.5 days with a range of 10-24 days.

Conclusion: It seems that most of the COVID-19 patients may be adequately managed by standard of care management with drug support. However, early diagnosis and hospitalization with adequate care may be important variables for better survival. These factors may be properly ensured if the patient burden remains at a palatable level in forthcoming days in Bangladesh.

How to cite this article: Bhuyan MAR, Al Mahtab M, Ashab E, et al. Treatment of COVID-19 Patients at a Medical College Hospital in Bangladesh. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2020;10(1):27-30.