Outcomes of COVID-19 Among High-Risk Individuals: A Study Comparing Febrile and Afebrile Presentation

Krishnan Vasanthan, Varun Sundar, Emmanuel Bhaskar

Abstract


Background: Fever is one of the most frequent symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and clinicians are faced with a practice question on whether fever is a risk for progression of disease especially in persons with risk factors for severe illness. We studied if a difference exists in the clinical course and outcome between febrile and afebrile (symptomatic) presentation.

Methods: Patients aged > 18 years with confirmed COVID-19 with at least one risk factor for severe illness were studied. Enrolment was done from a home COVID-19 care cohort between May 2020 and March 2022. Participants were divided into febrile and afebrile groups and further divided into six sub-groups based on their comorbidities (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, chronic lung disease, chronic kidney disease, liver disease and others) using a pre-specified inclusion method. Severity of illness was classified as non-hypoxic or hypoxic and clinical course was monitored.

Results: A total of 3,752 patients were studied, of whom 965 (25.7%) had severe illness and 117 (3.1%) died. Persons with obesity (P < 0.001), chronic kidney disease (P = 0.003) and chronic liver disease (P = 0.02) more frequently had presentation without fever. No significant difference in hypoxia (P = 0.35) or mortality (P = 0.50) was observed between febrile (n = 1,240) and afebrile (n = 2,512) presentation.

Conclusion: Fever in COVID-19 was not associated with severe illness or mortality. The overall and risk factor specific mortality observed in our study is substantially low, probably due to lesser bias in selection of study participants or due to ethnicity of study population.




J Clin Med Res. 2022;14(8):321-326
doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jocmr4791

Keywords


Coronavirus disease 2019; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Diabetes mellitus; Hypertension; Chronic lung disease; Chronic kidney disease; Chronic liver disease

Full Text: HTML PDF
 

Browse  Journals  

 

Journal of Clinical Medicine Research

Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism

Journal of Clinical Gynecology and Obstetrics

 

World Journal of Oncology

Gastroenterology Research

Journal of Hematology

 

Journal of Medical Cases

Journal of Current Surgery

Clinical Infection and Immunity

 

Cardiology Research

World Journal of Nephrology and Urology

Cellular and Molecular Medicine Research

 

Journal of Neurology Research

International Journal of Clinical Pediatrics

 

 
       
 

Journal of Clinical Medicine Research, monthly, ISSN 1918-3003 (print), 1918-3011 (online), published by Elmer Press Inc.                     
The content of this site is intended for health care professionals.
This is an open-access journal distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted
non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Creative Commons Attribution license (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International CC-BY-NC 4.0)


This journal follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals,
the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.

website: www.jocmr.org   editorial contact: editor@jocmr.org
Address: 9225 Leslie Street, Suite 201, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4B 3H6, Canada

© Elmer Press Inc. All Rights Reserved.


Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the published articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the editors and Elmer Press Inc. This website is provided for medical research and informational purposes only and does not constitute any medical advice or professional services. The information provided in this journal should not be used for diagnosis and treatment, those seeking medical advice should always consult with a licensed physician.