Nano Magnetic Beads Combined with Polymerase Chain Reaction Detection of 2019-nCoV and Analysis of the Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of 2019-nCoV Patients
Authors: Fan Lingyan , Liu Linsong , Zheng Nanhong , Li Dezhou , Tu Honghui , Xuan Hongping , Wang Donghui , Wang Wei , Chen Heling , Ye Honghua , Hu Yaoren , Zhang Shun , Yuan Gang 
Published: January 2021

The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is extremely infectious and the human population globally is generally susceptible to it. Its spread poses a serious threat to public health. Analyzing the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
can more fully demonstrate its characteristics and evolution, and provide effective scientific strategies for preventing and controlling the epidemic. In this study, nucleic acid detection was performed on 228 suspected COVID-19 cases in Ningbo City from January 2020 to August 2020. The RNA
of the virus was extracted by the nano magnetic bead method and was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. Patients whose test results were positive were considered as research subjects. Clinical data of the patients were collected through a medical record system and the epidemiology
and characteristics of COVID-19 were analyzed. Among the 228 suspected cases, 108 patients had a positive nucleic acid test result. The 108 confirmed patients were selected as research subjects, including 9 patients with mild symptoms, 85 patients with common symptoms, and 14 patients with
severe symptoms. The age range of the patients was 17–82 years. Overall, 35 patients (32.40%) had complications. The median incubation period for patients was 7.5 days. Seventy patients (64.81%) had a contact history with a diseased individual. In terms of the clinical symptoms of the
patients, the following symptoms were identified: fever in 92, cough in 62, fatigue in 34, sputum expectoration in 32, dry cough in 22, sore throat in 19, diarrhea in 8, headache in 8, shortness of breath in 7, nasal congestion in 5, and muscle ache in 5 cases. The results of chest CT imaging
showed that 96 patients (88.89%) exhibited bilateral or unilateral pneumonia lesions of varying degrees, manifested as bilateral or unilateral lung patches, cloudy floccules, patches with an increased density shadow. The CT images of 12 patients (11.11%) showed no obvious abnormalities, while
24 cases (22.22%) had absolute white blood cell count of <4×109/L, while 1 case had one of >10×109/L. The absolute neutrophil count in 10 patients (9.26%) increased (>6.3×109/L). The absolute lymphocyte count in 49 patients (45.37%)
decreased (<1.1×109/L). The hemoglobin, hematocrit, and platelet levels of the vast majority of patients were normal, while a few were low or high. Fifty-eight patients (53.70%) had elevated C-reactive protein (>10 mg/L); 14 (12.96%) had elevated D-dimer (>256 μg/L);
14 (12.96%) had high levels of alanine aminotransferase (>40 U/L); 9 (8.33%) had increased aspartate aminotransferase (>40 U/L); while 32 (29.6%) had increased lactate dehydrogenase (>250 U/L). COVID-19 in Ningbo is mainly transmitted in clusters, and elderly patients are more likely
to develop severe symptoms. There is no significant difference in clinical characteristics between patients with severe conditions and those with mild and common ones.