Nearly every patient that needed a ventilator to treat severe coronavirus symptoms died, according to a new study.
The study showed that 88% of patients who required ventilators at Northwell Health, New York’s largest health system, died. About 12% of the patients in the study needed ventilators, CNN reported.
In total, about 20% of coronavirus patients treated at Northwell Health passed away.
The researchers analyzed the health records of 5,700 patients with confirmed coronavirus infections, though the final outcome for nearly half of them is not yet known.
Many that died had underlying conditions:
The study confirmed that many of those suffering the most severe symptoms had underlying health conditions.
More than half of the patients that became severely ill had high blood pressure, 41% were obese, and 34% had diabetes.
"Of the patients who died, those with diabetes were more likely to have received invasive mechanical ventilation or care in the ICU compared with those who did not have diabetes," the study said.
The study also confirmed than men were more likely to die than women and that no child under 18 years of age has died from the virus at Northwell Health.
Few patients had fever:
Though fevers have long been considered a common symptom of the virus and many have urged using thermometers to find potential cases, the study found that fewer than one-third of coronavirus patients had a fever when they were hospitalized.
More than two-thirds of the patients “did not have a fever and yet were sick enough to need to be hospitalized,” said lead author Karina Davidson. “That’s the kind of important finding we thought needs to get out right away.”
