Epidemiological characteristics and initial spatiotemporal visualisation of COVID-19 in a major city in the Middle East

作者：Shahab MohammadEbrahimi, Alireza Shahriari Mohammadi, Robert N. Bergquist, Fatemeh Dolatkhah, Mahsa Olia, Ayoub Tavakolian, Elahe Pishgar, Behzad Kiani · 发表于：BMC Public Health · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1186/s12889-021-11326-2 · 被引用次数：44 · 研究领域：COVID-19 epidemiological studies、Data-Driven Disease Surveillance、Zoonotic diseases and public health

Abstract Background The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged initially in China in December 2019 causing the COVID-19 disease, which quickly spread worldwide. Iran was one of the first countries outside China to be affected in a major way and is now under the spell of a fourth wave. This study aims to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cases in north-eastern Iran through mapping the spatiotemporal trend of the disease. Methods The study comprises data of 4000 patients diagnosed by laboratory assays or clinical investigation from the beginning of the disease on Feb 14, 2020, until May 11, 2020. Epidemiological features and spatiotemporal trends of the disease in the study area were explored by classical statistical approaches and Geographic Information Systems. Results Most common symptoms were dyspnoea (69.4%), cough (59.4%), fever (54.4%) and weakness (19.5%). Approximately 82% of those who did not survive suffered from dyspnoea. The highest Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was related to those with cardiovascular disease (27.9%) and/or diabetes (18.1%). Old age (≥60 years) was associated with an almost five-fold increased CFR. Odds Ratio (OR) showed malignancy (3.8), nervous diseases (2.2), and respiratory diseases (2.2) to be significantly associated with increased CFR with developments, such as hospitalization at the ICU (2.9) and LOS (1.1) also having high correlations. Furthermore, spatial analyses revealed a geographical...