Dynamics of hospitalizations and in-hospital deaths from COVID-19 in Northeast Brazil: a retrospective analysis based on the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variants and vaccination coverage

Martins-Filho, Paulo Ricardo; de Souza Araújo, Adriano Antunes; Quintans-Júnior, Lucindo José; Soares, Bárbara dos Santos; Barboza, Waneska de Souza; Cavalcante, Taise Ferreira; Santos, Victor Santana

doi:2022.0.0.e2022036

Brief communication

Epidemiology and Health 2022;e2022036.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2022036 [Accepted] Published online Apr 5, 2022.

Dynamics of hospitalizations and in-hospital deaths from COVID-19 in Northeast Brazil: a retrospective analysis based on the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variants and vaccination coverage

Paulo Ricardo Martins-Filho¹

, Adriano Antunes de Souza Araújo²

, Lucindo José Quintans-Júnior³

, Bárbara dos Santos Soares¹

, Waneska de Souza Barboza⁴

, Taise Ferreira Cavalcante¹

, Victor Santana Santos⁵

¹Federal University of Sergipe, Sergipe, Brazil, Aracaju, Brazil
²Federal University of Sergipe, Sergipe, Brazil., Aracaju, Brazil
³Federal University of Sergipe, Sergipe, Brazil, Aracaju, Brazil
⁴Aracaju City Hall, Municipal Health Department, Sergipe, Brazil, Aracaju, Brazil
⁵Federal University of Alagoas, Alagoas, Brazil, Arapiraca, Brazil

Correspondence Paulo Ricardo Martins-Filho ,Tel: +55 (79) 3194-7202, Email: prmartinsfh@gmail.com

Received: Feb 25, 2022 Accepted after revision: Apr 5, 2022

Abstract

This study investigated the dynamics of hospitalizations and in-hospital deaths from COVID-19 throughout the pandemic in Northeast Brazil, a region with the worst socioeconomic indicators in the country. A total of 141,445 cases, 8,213 hospital admissions and 1,644 in-hospital deaths from COVID-19 were registered from 14 March 2020 to 5 February 2022. The overall rates of hospitalization and in-hospital deaths were 5.8% and 20%, respectively. Our study showed a significant decrease in hospitalization and death rates over time, which may be related to the advance of vaccination in the region. During the spread of the Gamma variant (January – June 2021), most hospitalized individuals were young adults and circa 40% of deaths occurred in this age group. During predominance of Delta (July – December 2021), at least 75% of deaths occurred among the elderly and unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals. This rate has been reduced to 42.3% due to the transmission of the Omicron variant (January – February 2022), while 34.6% of deaths were recorded among fully vaccinated individuals at 2 doses and 23.1% among those fully vaccinated plus a booster dose. The Omicron-driven third wave has been associated to the rise in the proportion of deaths among vaccinated individuals, especially among those who had not received a booster dose.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 variants; COVID-19 vaccines