Table 3.

Demographic, clinical, laboratory and radiographic findings among MERS-CoV patients overall and by severity, Saudi Arabia, 2014-2019

	All MERS-CoV cases: number and % distribution		MERS CoV cases who required ventilation (n, %)		P-value	MERS CoV cases who died at the hospital (n, %)		P-value
Total	501	100	146	29.1		106	21.2
Gender
Female	155	30.9	36	23.2	0.062	24	15.5	0.025
Male	346	69.1	110	31.8		82	23.7
Age in years
0-20	14	2.8	5	35.7	0.019	1	7.1	0.001
21-40	165	32.9	34	20.6		21	12.7
41-60	208	41.5	61	29.3		43	20.7
>60	114	22.8	46	40.4		41	36.0
Saudi national
no	180	35.9	44	24.4	0.045	32	17.8	0.107
yes	321	64.1	102	31.8		74	23.1
Year of admission
2014	58	11.6	16	27.6	0.150	9	15.5	0.554
2015	189	37.9	42	22.2		43	22.8
2016	58	11.6	19	32.8		14	24.1
2017	76	15.2	31	40.8		19	25.0
2018	48	9.6	17	35.4		12	25.0
2019	70	14	21	30.0		9	12.9
Healthcare worker
no	429	85.6	143	33.3	0.000	105	24.5	0.000
yes	72	14.4	3	4.2		1	1.4
History of travel or exposure to MERS -CoV cases or vectors
Unknown	293	58.8	114	38.9	0.000	82	28.0	0.001
Patient	142	28.5	24	16.9		21	14.8
Relative of patient	47	9.4	2	4.3		1	2.1
Animal	15	3	4	26.7		2	13.3
Travel	1	0.2	0	0.0		0	0.0
Admitted through Intensive Care Unit
no	332	66.3	30	9.0	0.000	31	9.3	0.000
yes	169	33.7	116	68.6		75	44.4
Days symptomatic before admission
<=7 days	212	63.1	67	31.5	0.219	45	21.2	0.242
>7 days	124	36.9	32	26.0		20	16.1
Any symptoms
no	51	10.2	5	9.8	0.001	6	11.8	0.071
yes	450	89.8	141	31.3		100	22.2
Gastrointestinal symptoms
No	405	80.8	124	30.5	0.163	92	22.7	0.119
Yes	96	19.2	22	23.2		14	14.6
Dyspnea
No	305	60.9	54	17.7	0.000	41	13.4	0.000
Yes	196	39.1	92	46.9		65	33.2
Cough
No	200	39.9	59	29.4	0.927	41	20.5	0.803
Yes	301	60.1	87	29.0		65	21.6
Sore throat
No	475	94.8	145	30.5	0.000	105	22.1	0.002
Yes	26	5.2	1	3.8		1	3.8
Fever
No	149	29.7	44	29.3	0.948	36	24.2	0.223
Yes	352	70.3	102	29.1		70	19.9
Any comorbidity
No	190	37.9	29	15.3	0.000	16	8.4	0.000
Yes	311	62.1	117	37.6		90	28.9
Diabetes
No	305	60.9	71	23.4	0.000	50	16.4	0.000
Yes	196	39.1	75	38.1		56	28.6
Asthma
No	462	92.2	134	29.1	0.888	99	21.4	0.607
Yes	39	7.8	12	30.0		7	17.9
Hypertension
No	338	67.5	75	22.2	0.000	50	14.8	0.000
Yes	163	32.5	71	43.6		56	34.4
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease
No	497	99.2	143	28.8	0.057	102	20.5	0.000
Yes	4	0.8	3	75.0		4	100.0
Cancer
No	495	98.8	144	29.1	0.811	103	20.8	0.063
Yes	6	1.2	2	33.3		3	50.0
Liver disease
No	498	99.4	144	28.9	0.020	104	20.9	0.002
Yes	3	0.6	2	66.7		2	66.7
Congestive heart failure
No	489	97.6	141	28.8	0.293	101	20.7	0.022
Yes	12	2.4	5	45.5		5	41.7
Chest X-ray
Negative	155	36.3	10	6.5	0.000	9	5.8	0.000
Positive	272	63.7	114	41.9		86	31.6
missing	74		22			11
Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Negative	370	73.9	99	26.8	0.140	75	20.3	0.522
Positive	131	26.1	47	35.9		31	23.7
Microbiology
Negative	238	64	34	14.3	0.000	25	10.5	0.000
Positive	134	36	75	56.0		59	44.0
Missing	129		37			22
Blood culture
Negative	332	74.1	77	23.2	0.010	60	18.1	0.113
Positive	116	25.9	55	47.4		34	29.3
Missing	53		14			12
Urine culture
Negative	341	76.5	91	26.7	0.146	65	19.1	0.419
Positive	105	23.5	40	38.1		27	25.7
Missing	55		15			13
Respiratory culture
Negative	337	75.6	65	19.3	0.000	46	13.6	0.000
Positive	109	24.4	66	60.6		47	43.1
Missing	55		155			13
MERS CoV PCR CT < 303
No	141	39.5	15	10.6	0.000	13	9.2	0.000
Yes	216	60.5	92	42.6		69	31.9
Missing	144		39			24
White blood cell count
Below normal	93	21.7	17	18.3	0.000	12	12.9	0.000
Normal	270	63.1	72	26.7		54	20.0
Above normal	65	15.2	36	55.4		31	47.7
Missing	73		21			9
Hemoglobin
Below normal	211	49.3	94	44.5	0.000	76	36.0	0.000
Normal	211	49.3	29	13.7		20	9.5
Missing	73		21			9
Platelet count
Below normal	113	26.4	41	36.3	0.032	31	27.4	0.353
Normal	299	69.9	78	26.1		62	20.7
Missing	73		21			9
Neutrophil
Below normal	36	8.7	2	5.6	0.000	2.	5.6	0.000
Normal	295	71.4	72	24.4		50	16.9
Above normal	82	19.9	48	58.5		43	52.4
Missing	88		24			11
Creatinine kinase
Below normal	49	24.1	15	30.6	0.171	12	24.5	0.426
Normal	45	22.2	13	28.9		11	24.4
Above normal	109	53.7	44	40.0		35	32.1
Missing	298		75			48
Alanine aminotransferase (ALT)
Normal	253	66.6	76	30.0	0.768	59	23.3	0.858
Above normal	126	33.2	37	29.4		29	23.0
Missing	121		33			18
Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)
Normal	122	32.9	13	10.7	0.000	9	7.4	0.000
Above normal	249	67.1	91	36.5		73	29.3
Missing	130		42			24
Creatinine
Below normal	95	26	19	20.0	0.000	15	15.8	0.000
Normal	203	55.6	39	19.2		27	13.3
Above normal	67	18.4	41	61.2		35	52.2
Missing	136		47			29
Albumin
Below normal	216	49.3	106	49.1	0.000	75	34.7	0.000
Normal	215	49.1	29	13.5		24	11.2
Missing	63		10			7
Bilirubin
Normal	338	85.6	87	25.8	0.000	66	19.5	0.000
Above normal	49	12.4	29	59.2		24	49.0
Missing	106		27			15
Prothrombin Time (PT)
Normal	231	69.6	52	22.6	0.000	42	18.2	0.000
Above normal	88	26.5	56	64.0		41	46.6
Missing	169		34			22
Partial Thromboplastin Time (PTT)
Normal	202	62.9	51	25.2	0.000	39	19.3	0.001
Above normal	73	22.7	45	61.6		33	45.2
Missing	180		41			26
Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)
Normal	11	10.7	3	27.3	0.130	1	9.1	0.070
Above normal	91	88.4	50	55.0		39	42.9
Missing	398		93			66

¹Patients admitted to one of the four MERS-CoV referral hospitals in Saudi Arabia. ²Denominator for laboratory and other investigations vary. ³CT (Cycle Threshold) value is the number of cycles necessary to spot the virus, lower threshold indicates high viral count; PCR, polymerase chain reaction. The number of missing values are reported when missing in >1% of subjects.