Features of the clinical course of a new coronavirus infection in students who were observed in the observator in the first and second wave of morbidity increasing

INTRODUCTION: The sudden appearance of a new coronavirus infection in the world has posed difficult challenges for science to determine the main clinical manifestations of this disease, as well as to approve standards for diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Research of the symptoms of mild COVID-19 is continuing. The data obtained in such studies are particularly relevant for primary care physicians.

THE AIM: To evaluate the features of the clinical course of COVID-19 among students of the North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov, placed in the observatory, during the first and second waves of rising morbidity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on the basis of the observatory of the NWSMU named after I.I. Mechnikov in two stages: in the period from 21.04.2020 to 31.08.2020 (the first wave) and from 16.09.2020 to 31.12.2020 (the second wave). Demographic, epidemiological, and clinical-anamnestic data were recorded in all participants of the study.

RESULTS: The study involved 309 people: 39.8% men (n = 123) and 58.9% women (n = 182). The average age of the respondents was 21.5 ± 2.6 years. The number of participants in the first and second waves was 113 and 196 people, respectively. The average age of participants with COVID-19 in the first wave was 1.5 years less and was 21.2 ± 2.5 years (р < 0.001). There was a significant increase in the frequency of the following symptoms: dry cough, loss of smell, headache, general weakness, increased body temperature to 38.0 °С, nasal congestion (р < 0.05) in students who were monitored in the second wave of increased incidence of COVID-19 compared to the first. The frequency of symptoms such as chest congestion, lower back pain, and fever above 38.0 °С significantly decreased (р < 0.05). There was a significant decrease in the incidence of viral pneumonia in patients who were observed during the second wave, compared with the data obtained during the first wave (р < 0.001).