Clinical Characteristics, Comorbidities, Initial Management and Outcome of COVID-19 Infected Patients Admitted to Intensive Care Unit in Somalia: A National Retrospective Study.

Abstract Purpose: To investigate the clinical characteristics, morbidities, management, and outcomes of COVID-19 Infected patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in Somalia.Material and methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study of laboratory 60 confirmed patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) admitted to an ICU from March 28, to May 28, 2020.The sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, exposure history, clinical manifestations (symptoms and signs), laboratory findings, treatment, and outcomes were collected from medical records.Results: Most of the patients admitted to ICU were men over 59 years of age, and nearly half had diabetes followed by hypertension chronic kidney disease and asthma. The most clinical presentations were dyspnea (91.2%), Fever (81.1%), (68.75%), Fatigue and myalgia (25%), and Altered level of conscious (16.6%). Among 48 patients admitted to the ICU, about 24 (50%) patients had required endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation, and 11(29.9%) patients needed noninvasive ventilation, while 13(27.08%) patients treated with high-flow oxygen therapy >15 L/min (Table 3). Corticosteroids were administered to most patients (85.4%), while 77.1% of the patients received inhaled bronchodilators and morethan half of the patients administered antibiotics. 58.3% of the patients had received Oseltamivir, while 22.9% received Vasopressors.Conclusion This study represents the first description of critically ill patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 admitted to ICU in Somalia. The study identified that elder age, male gender, and diabetic and hypertensive comorbidities as independent risk factors of poor outcomes for patients admitted to the ICU (p<0.005).