Clinical Characteristics of Re-hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 in China.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to observe the clinical characteristics of recovered patients from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19) with positive in RT-PCR or serum antibody. METHODS: The profile, clinical symptoms, laboratory outcomes and radiologic assessments were extracted on 11 patients, who tested positive for COVID-19 with RT-PCR or serum antibody after discharged and was admitted to Hubei No. 3 People's Hospital of Jianghan University for a second treatment in March 2020. RESULTS: The average interval time between the first discharge and the second admission measured 16.00 � 7.14 days, ranging from 6 to 27 days. In the second hospitalization, 1 patient was positive for RT-PCR and serum antibody IgM-IgG, 5 patients were positive for both IgM and IgG but negative for RT-PCR. 3 patients were positive for both RT-PCR and IgG but negative for IgM. The main symptoms were cough (54.5%), fever (27.3%) and feeble (27.3%) in the second hospitalization. Compared with the first hospitalization, there were significant decreases in gastrointestinal symptoms (5 vs. 0, P=0.035), elevated levels of both white blood cell count(P=0.036) and lymphocyte count (P=0.002), remarkedly decreases in CRP and SAA (P<0.05) in the second hospitalization. Additionally, 6 patients' chest CT exhibited notable improvements in acute exudative lesions CONCLUSION: There could be the positive results for RT-PCR analysis or serum IgM-IgG in discharged patients, even with mild clinical symptoms, however, their laboratory outcomes and chest CT images would not indicate the on-going development in those patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.