Category: COVID-19 Global Response/Response in Low Resource Settings

Poster Session: COVID-19 Global Response/Response in Low Resource Settings

477 - Implementing a Follow-up Call Program for Ambulatory patients with COVID-19 in a Tertiary Center in Mexico City

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Presenting Author(s)

Yamile Giovanna Serrano Pinto

MD
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Co-Author(s)

Brenda Crabtree-Ramírez

Assistant Professor, HIV Program. UNAM.
Infectious Diseases Department. Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Cristian E. Espejo Ortiz

MD
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
AH

Aldo Hernández-Alemon

MD
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
DI

David A. Iruegas-Núñez

MD
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
IH

Ingrid V. Hernández-Martínez

Medical Student
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
VG

Valeria E Gómez-Islas

Medical Student
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
DO

Dulce M. Oropeza-Viveros

Medical Student
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
SC

Sandra Erika Castro Gómez

MD
Centro Médico ABC
Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
AE

Alexia Esquinca-González

MD
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
KG

Kevin R García-Fong

Medical Student
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
EG

Eduardo Gómez-Vázquez

Medical Student
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
KA

Karen A Arias-Delgado

MD
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Lorena Guerrero-Torres

MD
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion Salvador Zubiran
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
AL

Alvaro Lopez Iñiguez

MD
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Background: The Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán is a teaching hospital which was converted into a Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) designated hospital on mid-March 2020. In Mexico City, the COVID-19 peak started in mid-April 2020. A considerable proportion of those diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection were treated by ambulatory care. We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics at diagnosis of ambulatory patients diagnosed with COVID-19, their willingness to donate plasma and their clinical outcomes at one month of the follow-up call program implementation.

Methods: A call strategy follow-up program (FUP) was established on April 19, 2020. All ambulatory patients received at least 3 calls every 48-72 hours, followed by 2 weekly calls. A team of voluntary medical students, general practitioners, fellows, and medical specialists was assembled for this purpose. Signs of alarm (fever >72 hours, shortness of breath, respiratory insufficiency) and other clinical signs were collected on every call. Willingness to donate plasma and possibility of a correct home isolation were also addressed.

Results: From April 19 to May 18, 2020, a total of 360 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV2, of whom 350 were followed. Their median age was 44 years (33-51), and 55% were female. 145 (41%) had completed all FUP calls and 194 (55%) referred to be asymptomatic in their last call. We identified 8 patients with signs of alarm during the calls, and 2 of them required hospitalization. During the FUP, 66% referred fatigue that limited their activities, 56% anosmia or dysgeusia, 32% headache, and 22% diarrhea. 90% were capable to properly isolate in their homes. Willingness to donate plasma was assessed in 89 patients, of whom, 75 (84%) manifested their willingness to donate.

Conclusion: Ambulatory follow-up is feasible and effective to identify those in need of hospitalization. Remarkably, half of the ambulatory patients had no comorbidities and presented anosmia/dysgeusia as the most frequent symptoms during follow-up. Willingness to donate plasma was high in this cohort.