Characteristics and Trends of COVID-19 Infection in a Tertiary Hospital in Romania: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

(1) Background: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic represented a real challenge for all of humanity. Characterized by a complex spectrum of signs and symptoms, by various severity degrees, the disease spread rapidly around the world. After more than two and half years since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, in the context of a paradoxical, enigmatic, and relentless COVID-19, the objective of the current study was to evaluate the characteristics and evolution of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalized in “St. Parascheva” Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases (Iasi, Romania). (2) Methods: This is a retrospective study that used the medical database recorded between July and November 2021 in order to highlight the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients from the northeastern region of Romania. (3) Results: We enrolled in the study a total of 1732 SARS-CoV-2 infected patients, mean age 67 ± 3.4 years, the female gender predominating (987 cases; 56.98%) as well as patients from the urban environment (982 patients; 56.69%). Moderate form of the disease predominated (814 cases; 47%), pulmonary imaging changes were found in 1042 (60.16%) cases, and 1242 (71.71%) patients had at least one underlying disease. After a median length of hospitalization of 9.5 days, 1359 (78.46%) patients were discharged cured, 48 (2.77%) were transferred to other services by decompensating the associated pathologies, 302 (17.43%) patients needed extensive support in the intensive care unit and there were 325 (18.76%) deaths. (4) Conclusions: The epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infection recorded in our study were mostly the same as characteristics of COVID-19 from all over the world.