Persistent hiccups as an atypical presentation of covid-19: a brief report

Background: coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as an emerging infectious disease started in China in 2019. By increasing the number of patients and spreading to all countries, it was considered a pandemic disease. COVID-19 became an international concern. Patients affected by coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) reported different symptoms. Most signs and symptoms were related to the respiratory system. To our knowledge, the onset of Covid-19 with chronic hiccups was reported in two patients. The aim of this study was to assess the onset of symptoms of Covid-19 disease in patients in a hospital in Zabol, Iran. Methods: This study is a retrospective descriptive cross-sectional study which was performed from March to June 2021. The study setting was a hospital affiliated with Zabol Medical University. The study population included all patients diagnosed with Covid-19. A total of 350 patients were selected by the census. For data gathering, we used Patient’s records including demographic information, clinical examination records, and para-clinical tests results. We used descriptive statistics and SPSS ver. 20 for data analysis and management. Results: A total of 350 patients were diagnosed with Covid-19. The number of 232 (66.28%) patients were hospitalized for receiving hospital care. 118(33.72%) were recommended to stay at home and receive care. Inpatients included 119(51.29%) male and 113(48.71%) female. The mean age of patients was 41.75(±15.6) years. The main complaint of 349(99.71%) patients was respiratory problems. A 44-year-old male patient with a history of 8 years of diabetes had chronic hiccups. Conclusion: according to our findings, unexpected signs and symptoms should be considered during the pandemic event. By identifying different symptoms of the disease, the provision of health services from diagnosis to care and treatment is improved. Since Covid-19 disease is an emerging disease and all its dimensions have not been identified yet, a thorough examination of patients who are referred to medical centers can help identify and reporting different cases.