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A suspected COVID-19 patient gets tested at a screening clinic in Seoul’s Songpa District on June 9. (Yonhap News)

Diabetes, high fever, low oxygen levels, and major heart damage are four symptoms that correlate to severe cases of COVID-19, a new study reports. This is the first study in South Korea confirming the risk factors that are predictive of a serious case of the disease.

The report, titled “Prognostic Factors for Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Daegu, Korea,” was published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science (JKMS) by a research team at the Yeungnam University College of Medicine, in Daegu. The researchers analyzed 110 COVID-19 patients (23 serious cases) from Feb. 19 to Apr. 15.

The study found that 48.3% of COVID-19 patients with diabetes developed a serious case, compared to just 11.1% of patients without diabetes. The study found that 41.0% of patients with a body temperature at or above 37.8 degrees developed a severe case, compared to 9.9% of those with a lower temperature. Moreover, 58.6% of patients with peripheral oxygen saturation (oxygen paired with hemoglobin in the blood) below 92% developed a severe case, compared to 7.4% of patients with oxygen saturation at or above 92%. A whopping 85.7% of patients whose level of Creatine Kinase-MB (an enzyme used to measure the degree of heart damage) exceeded 6.3ng/ml developed a severe case, compared to 31.6% of those with a lower level.

“A serious case developed in 100% of patients with three or four symptoms, 60% of patients with two symptoms, and 13% of patients with just one symptom. Appropriate assessment and close monitoring of risk factors should make it possible to reduce the fatality rate,” the researchers said.

By Choi Ha-yan, staff reporter

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