Clinical Features and Vaccine Efficacy Analysis of COVID-19 patients in a Chongqing Shelter hospital in 2022
Authors: Luo YiNing , Zhao Mei , Zhao Xingyu , Qiao YanWen , Gao YanXia , Wu TingTing , Liu Weiwei , Ren Yi 
Published: September 2023

Background

The long-term impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on many aspects of society emphasizes the necessity of vaccination and nucleic acid conversion time as markers of prevention and diagnosis. However, little research has been conducted on the immunological effects of vaccines and the influencing factors of virus clearance. Epidemiological characteristics and factors related to disease prognosis and nucleic acid conversion time need to be explored.

Design and participants

We reviewed published documentation to create an initial draft. The data were then statistically evaluated to determine their link. Given that a Chongqing shelter hospital is typical in terms of COVID-19 patients receiving hospital management and treatment effects, a retrospective analysis was conducted on 4,557 cases of COVID-19 infection in a shelter hospital in Chongqing in December 2022, which comprised 2,291 males and 2,266 females. The variables included age, medical history, nucleic acid conversion time, vaccination status, and clinical symptoms.

Results

Univariate survival analysis using the Log-rank test (P < 0.05) showed that factors such as age significantly affected nucleic acid conversion time. COX regression analysis indicated a significant association between a history of hypertension and nucleic acid conversion time, which had a hazard ratio of 0.897 (95% CI: 0.811–0.992). A statistically significant difference was observed between vaccinated and unvaccinated infected individuals in terms of the presence of symptoms such as cough and sensory system manifestations (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

The effect of vaccination against COVID-19 on symptoms such as coughing, nasal congestion, muscle aches, runny nose, and sensory system symptoms in COVID-19 patients was determined. Typical symptoms, such as runny nose, were generally higher in vaccinated than in unvaccinated ones; previous hypertension was an influential factor in nucleic acid conversion time in patients with COVID-19 infection.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS

This study clarifies the advantages of vaccination by comparing the symptom development between patients who had received vaccinations and those who had not.

This research suggests potential future study directions, such as investigating the impact of pre-existing diseases like hypertension on viral clearance time and assessing vaccine efficacy and safety in certain demographic groups.

This work investigated data from 4,557 coronavirus disease 2019 patients admitted to a shelter hospital, which offered significant insights into patients’ clinical features and outcomes over a defined time span.

This study has several flaws because a retrospective analysis method was used and not all confounding variables that might have affected the results were appropriately controlled.

The overall research sample may not be representative of other communities because it was drawn from a shelter hospital in Chongqing, and the types of immunizations used were not disclosed. These factors might have had an impact on the precision and extent of the research findings.