Comparison of Hospitalized Patients with Severe Pneumonia Caused by COVID-19 and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H7N9): A Retrospective Study from A Designated Hospital
Abstract Background: Considerable attention has been focused on clinical features of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), it is also important for clinicians to differentiate it from influenza virus infections.Methods: The clinical data of 23 cases of H7N9 and 23 cases of COVID-19 with severe pneumonia were collected. The comparisons were performed with the t test, Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher exact test or the chi-squared test, and multivariable logistic regression analysis.Results: All of the cases were under the circumstance of sufficient medical staff and medical supplies. Radiologically, severe COVID-19 patients had less consolidation and pleural effusion, but more crazy-paving pattern than severe H7N9 patients (p<0.05). Clinically, compared to severe H7N9, severe COVID-19 patients were more inclined to surfer to relative better disease severity score, less secondary bacterial infection, a shorter time to beginning absorption on CT, but a longer duration of viral shedding from the admission (p<0.05). Although more severe H7N9 patients needed non-invasive respiratory support, these two groups ultimately yielded comparable mortality. Based on multiple logistic regression analysis, severe COVID-19 infection was associated with a lower risk of the presence of severe ARDS (OR 0.964, 95% [CI] 0.931-0.998, p=0.040), but exhibited longer duration of viral shedding (OR 0.734, 95% [CI] 0.550-0.980, p=0.036) than severe H7N9 infection.Conclusion: Although the conditions of severe H7N9 patients seemed to be more critical than those of severe COVID-19 patients, the relatively lower mortality of these two severe cases is to be expected in context of sufficient medical supplies.