Ethnic disparities in hospitalisation and hospital-outcomes during the second wave of COVID-19 infection in east London

Social health gradient and risk factors among patients hospitalized for COVID-19 and pre-pandemic respiratory infections. A linked national individual case-control study in Belgium

Introduction

The literature establishes a clear social gradient in health for transmissible respiratory diseases. However, this gradient's extent remains largely unexplored in the context of COVID-19, and it is uncertain whether the pandemic has exacerbated this gradient. The study aims to compare the socio-economic profiles and comorbidities during the COVID-19 pandemic with a control population affected by viral pneumonia/respiratory disease in 2019.

Methods

This case-control study analyzed linked data from all patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in 2020 (n = 22,087) and for respiratory diseases in 2019 (n = 7,586). Socio-economic data from the social security database were linked to clinical data from the hospital registry. We analyzed the socio-demographic and clinical factors associated with COVID-19 hospitalization (control group, wave 1, and wave 2) using multinomial regressions and logistic regression models and the length of stay during hospitalization using binomial negative regressions.

Results

A social health gradient was observed in both the COVID-19 and control groups, with a significant increase across waves for COVID-19 (p-trend < 0.0001). Men, people over the age of 45, those with comorbidities, high population density, lower income, lower socio-economic status, and people living in Brussels capital were at higher risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and longer length of stay compared to the control group. Except for sub-Saharan Africans, all patients of foreign nationality had a significantly increased risk of hospitalization (p < 0.001), but a shorter length of stay compared to Belgians.

Conclusion

The socio-health gradient for COVID-19 followed the same pattern as that observed in pre-pandemic respiratory diseases, intensifying in the second wave and among the most deprived groups. This study emphasizes the importance of collecting social data alongside clinical data for a better understanding of social health inequalities and for tailoring health prevention policies.

Living less safely through the pandemic in England for people with serious mental and physical health conditions: qualitative interviews with service users and carers of Black African, Caribbean, and South-Asian descent

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 Ethnic Inequalities in Mental health and Multimorbidities (COVEIMM) is a mixed methods study to explore whether COVID-19 exacerbated ethnic health inequalities in adults with serious mental and physical health conditions. We analysed data from electronic health records for England and conducted interviews in Birmingham and Solihull, Manchester, and South London. Sites were selected because they were pilot sites for the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework being introduced by NHS England to tackle race inequalities in mental health. Prior to the pandemic people in England with severe mental illnesses (SMIs) faced an 11-17-year reduction in life expectancy, mostly due to preventable, long-term, physical health conditions. During the pandemic there was a marked increase in deaths of those living with an SMI.

AIMS

This qualitative interview study aimed to understand the reasons underlying ethnic inequalities in mortality and service use during the COVID-19 pandemic for adult service users and carers of Black African, Black Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi backgrounds living with serious multiple long-term mental and physical health conditions.

METHODS

We took a participatory action research approach and qualitative interviews undertaken by experts-by-experience and university researchers Participants were purposively sampled by ethnicity, diagnoses, and comorbidities across three geographically distinct sites in England. Transcriptions were coded inductively and deductively and analysed thematically.

RESULTS

Findings indicated multiple points along primary and secondary health pathways for mental and physical health that have the potential to exacerbate the unjust gap in mortality that exists for Black and Asian people with SMIs. Issues such as timely access to care (face-to-face and remote), being treated in a culturally appropriate manner with empathy, dignity and respect, and being able to use services without experiencing undue force, racism or other forms of intersectional discrimination were important themes arising from interviews.

CONCLUSION

These poor experiences create systemic and enduring healthcare harms for racialised groups with SMIs that need to be addressed. Our findings suggest a need to address these, not only in mental health providers, but across the whole health and care system and a need to ensure more equitable healthcare partnerships with service users, carers, and communities from racialised backgrounds who are often excluded.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health-care use among patients with cancer in England, UK: a comprehensive phase-by-phase time-series analysis across attendance types for 38 cancers

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the widespread disruption of cancer health provision services across the entirety of the cancer care pathway in the UK, from screening to treatment. The potential long-term health implications, including increased mortality for individuals who missed diagnoses or appointments, are concerning. However, the precise impact of lockdown policies on national cancer health service provision across diagnostic groups is understudied. We aimed to systematically evaluate changes in patterns of attendance for groups of individuals diagnosed with cancer, including the changes in attendance volume and consultation rates, stratified by both time-based exposures and by patient-based exposures and to better understand the impact of such changes on cancer-specific mortality.

METHODS

In this retrospective, cross-sectional, phase-by-phase time-series analysis, by using primary care records linked to hospitals and the death registry from Jan 1, 1998, to June 17, 2021, we conducted descriptive analyses to quantify attendance changes for groups stratified by patient-based exposures (Index of Multiple Deprivation, ethnicity, age, comorbidity count, practice region, diagnosis time, and cancer subtype) across different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in England, UK. In this study, we defined the phases of the COVID-19 pandemic as: pre-pandemic period (Jan 1, 2018, to March 22, 2020), lockdown 1 (March 23 to June 21, 2020), minimal restrictions (June 22 to Sept 20, 2020), lockdown 2 (Sept 21, 2020, to Jan 3, 2021), lockdown 3 (Jan 4 to March 21, 2021), and lockdown restrictions lifted (March 22 to March 31, 2021). In the analyses we examined changes in both attendance volume and consultation rate. We further compared changes in attendance trends to cancer-specific mortality trends. Finally, we conducted an interrupted time-series analysis with the lockdown on March 23, 2020, as the intervention point using an autoregressive integrated moving average model.

FINDINGS

From 561 611 eligible individuals, 7 964 685 attendances were recorded. During the first lockdown, the median attendance volume decreased (-35·30% [IQR -36·10 to -34·25]) compared with the preceding pre-pandemic period, followed by a median change of 4·38% (2·66 to 5·15) during minimal restrictions. More drastic reductions in attendance volume were seen in the second (-48·71% [-49·54 to -48·26]) and third (-71·62% [-72·23 to -70·97]) lockdowns. These reductions were followed by a 4·48% (3·45 to 7·10) increase in attendance when lockdown restrictions were lifted. The median consultation rate change during the first lockdown was 31·32% (25·10 to 33·60), followed by a median change of -0·25% (-1·38 to 1·68) during minimal restrictions. The median consultation rate decreased in the second (-33·89% [-34·64 to -33·18]) and third (-4·98% [-5·71 to -4·00]) lockdowns, followed by a 416·16% increase (409·77 to 429·77) upon lifting of lockdown restrictions. Notably, across many weeks, a year-over-year decrease in weekly attendances corresponded with a year-over-year increase in cancer-specific mortality. Overall, the pandemic period revealed a statistically significant reduction in attendances for patients with cancer (lockdown 1 -24 070·19 attendances, p<0·0001; minimal restrictions -19 194·89 attendances, p<0·0001; lockdown 2 -31 311·28 attendances, p<0·0001; lockdown 3 -43 843·38 attendances, p<0·0001; and lockdown restrictions lifted -56 260·50 attendances, p<0·0001) compared with before the pandemic.

INTERPRETATION

The UK's COVID-19 pandemic lockdown affected cancer health service access negatively. Many groups of individuals with cancer had declines in attendance volume and consultation rate across the phases of the pandemic. A decrease in attendances might lead to delays in cancer diagnoses, treatment, and follow-up, putting such groups of individuals at higher risk of negative health outcomes, such as cancer-specific mortality. We discuss the factors potentially responsible for explaining changes in service provision trends and provide insight to help inform clinical follow-up for groups of individuals at risk, alongside potential future policy changes in the care of such patients.

FUNDING

Wellcome Trust, National Institute for Health Research University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, National Institute for Health Research Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, Academy of Medical Sciences, and the University College London Overseas Research Scholarship.

Application of information from external data to correct for collider bias in a Covid-19 hospitalised cohort

BACKGROUND

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, researchers have made use of electronic health records to research this disease in a rapidly evolving environment of questions and discoveries. These studies are prone to collider bias as they restrict the population of Covid-19 patients to only those with severe disease. Inverse probability weighting is typically used to correct for this bias but requires information from the unrestricted population. Using electronic health records from a South London NHS trust, this work demonstrates a method to correct for collider bias using externally sourced data while examining the relationship between minority ethnicities and poor Covid-19 outcomes.

METHODS

The probability of inclusion within the observed hospitalised cohort was modelled based on estimates from published national data. The model described the relationship between patient ethnicity, hospitalisation, and death due to Covid-19 - a relationship suggested to be susceptible to collider bias. The obtained probabilities (as applied to the observed patient cohort) were used as inverse probability weights in survival analysis examining ethnicity (and covariates) as a risk factor for death due to Covid-19.

RESULTS

Within the observed cohort, unweighted analysis of survival suggested a reduced risk of death in those of Black ethnicity - differing from the published literature. Applying inverse probability weights to this analysis amended this aberrant result to one more compatible with the literature. This effect was consistent when the analysis was applied to patients within only the first wave of Covid-19 and across two waves of Covid-19 and was robust against adjustments to the modelled relationship between hospitalisation, patient ethnicity, and death due to Covid-19 made as part of a sensitivity analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, this analysis demonstrates the feasibility of using external publications to correct for collider bias (or other forms of selection bias) induced by the restriction of a population to a hospitalised cohort using an example from the recent Covid-19 pandemic.

Pandemic phase-related racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 positivity and outcomes among patients presenting to emergency departments during the first two pandemic waves in the USA

BACKGROUND

In many countries including the USA, the UK and Canada, the impact of COVID-19 on people of colour has been disproportionately high but examination of disparities in patients presenting to ED has been limited. We assessed racial and ethnic differences in COVID-19 positivity and outcomes in patients presenting to EDs in the USA, and the effect of the phase of the pandemic on these outcomes.

METHODS

This is a retrospective cohort study of adult patients tested for COVID-19 during, or 14 days prior to, the index ED visit in 2020. Data were obtained from the National Registry of Suspected COVID-19 in Emergency Care network which has data from 155 EDs across 27 US states. Hierarchical models were used to account for clustering by hospital. The outcomes included COVID-19 diagnosis, hospitalisation at index visit, subsequent hospitalisation within 30 days and 30-day mortality. We further stratified the analysis by time period (early phase: March-June 2020; late phase: July-September 2020).

RESULTS

Of the 26 111 adult patients, 38% were non-Hispanic White (NHW), 29% Black, 20% Hispanic/Latino, 3% Asian and 10% all others; half were female. The median age was 56 years (IQR 40-69), and 53% were diagnosed with COVID-19; of those, 59% were hospitalised at index visit. Of those discharged from ED, 47% had a subsequent hospitalisation in 30 days. Hispanic/Latino patients had twice (adjusted OR (aOR) 2.3; 95% CI 1.8 to 3.0) the odds of COVID-19 diagnosis than NHW patients, after adjusting for age, sex and comorbidities. Black, Asian and other minority groups also had higher odds of being diagnosed (compared with NHW patients). On stratification, this association was observed in both phases for Hispanic/Latino patients. Hispanic/Latino patients had lower odds of hospitalisation at index visit, but when stratified, this effect was only observed in early phase. Subsequent hospitalisation was more likely in Asian patients (aOR 3.1; 95% CI 1.1 to 8.7) in comparison with NHW patients. Subsequent ED visit was more likely in Blacks and Hispanic/Latino patients in late phase.

CONCLUSION

We found significant differences in ED outcomes that are not explained by comorbidity burden. The gap decreased but persisted during the later phase in 2020.

Health Resource Utilisation and Disparities: an Ecological Study of Admission Patterns Across Ethnicity in England Between 2017 and 2020

BACKGROUND AND AIM

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted adverse outcomes in Asian, Black, and ethnic minority groups. More research is required to explore underlying ethnic health inequalities. In this study, we aim to examine pre-COVID ethnic inequalities more generally through healthcare utilisation to contextualise underlying inequalities that were present before the pandemic.

DESIGN

This was an ecological study exploring all admissions to NHS hospitals in England from 2017 to 2020.

METHODS

The primary outcomes were admission rates within ethnic groups. Secondary outcomes included age-specific and age-standardised admission rates. Sub-analysis of admission rates across an index of multiple deprivation (IMD) deciles was also performed to contextualise the impact of socioeconomic differences amongst ethnic categories. Results were presented as a relative ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals.

RESULTS

Age-standardised admission rates were higher in Asian (RR 1.40 [1.38-1.41] in 2019) and Black (RR 1.37 [1.37-1.38]) and lower in Mixed groups (RR 0.91 [0.90-0.91]) relative to White. There was significant missingness or misassignment of ethnicity in NHS admissions: with 11.7% of admissions having an unknown/not-stated ethnicity assignment and 'other' ethnicity being significantly over-represented. Admission rates did not mirror the degree of deprivation across all ethnic categories.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows Black and Asian ethnic groups have higher admission rates compared to White across all age groups and when standardised for age. There is evidence of incomplete and misidentification of ethnicity assignment in NHS admission records, which may introduce bias to work on these datasets. Differences in admission rates across individual ethnic categories cannot solely be explained by socioeconomic status. Further work is needed to identify ethnicity-specific factors of these inequalities to allow targeted interventions at the local level.

Critical care and pandemic preparedness and response

Critical care was established partially in response to a polio epidemic in the 1950s. In the intervening 70 yr, several epidemics and pandemics have placed critical care and allied services under extreme pressure. Pandemics cause wholesale changes to accepted standards of practice, require reallocation and retargeting of resources and goals of care. In addition to clinical acumen, mounting an effective critical care response to a pandemic requires local, national, and international coordination in a diverse array of fields from research collaboration and governance to organisation of critical care networks and applied biomedical ethics in the eventuality of triage situations. This review provides an introduction to an array of topics that pertain to different states of pandemic acuity: interpandemic preparedness, alert, surge activity, recovery and relapse through the literature and experience of recent pandemics including COVID-19, H1N1, Ebola, and SARS.

Revisiting ethnic discrepancies in COVID-19 hospitalized cohorts: a correction for collider bias

OBJECTIVES

Studies from the first waves of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic suggest that individuals from minority ethnicities are at an increased risk of worse outcomes. Concerns exist that this relationship is potentially driven by bias from analyzing hospitalized patients only. We investigate this relationship and the possible presence of bias.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING

Using data from South London hospitals across two COVID-19 waves (February 2020 - May 2021), the relationship between ethnicity and COVID-19 outcomes was examined using regression models. Three iterations of each model were completed: 1) an unadjusted analysis, 2) adjusting for covariates (medical history and deprivation), and 3) adjusting for covariates and bias induced by conditioning on hospitalization.

RESULTS

Among 3,133 patients, those who were Asian had a two-fold increased risk of death during the hospital stay that was consistent across the two COVID-19 waves and was not affected by correcting for conditioning on hospitalization. However, wave-specific effects demonstrate significant differences between ethnic groups until bias from using a hospitalized cohort was corrected for.

CONCLUSION

Worsened COVID-19 outcomes in minority ethnicities may be minimized by correcting for bias induced by conditioning on hospitalization. Consideration of this bias should be a key component of study design.

Characterising biological mechanisms underlying ethnicity-associated outcomes in COVID-19 through biomarker trajectories: a multicentre registry analysis

BACKGROUND

Differences in routinely collected biomarkers between ethnic groups could reflect dysregulated host responses to disease and to treatments, and be associated with excess morbidity and mortality in COVID-19.

METHODS

A multicentre registry analysis from patients aged ≥16 yr with SARS-CoV-2 infection and emergency admission to Barts Health NHS Trust hospitals during January 1, 2020 to May 13, 2020 (wave 1) and September 1, 2020 to February 17, 2021 (wave 2) was subjected to unsupervised longitudinal clustering techniques to identify distinct phenotypic patient clusters based on trajectories of routine blood results over the first 15 days of hospital admission. Distribution of trajectory clusters across ethnic categories was determined, and associations between ethnicity, trajectory clusters, and 30-day survival were assessed using multivariable Cox proportional hazards modelling. Secondary outcomes were ICU admission, survival to hospital discharge, and long-term survival to 640 days.

RESULTS

We included 3237 patients with hospital length of stay ≥7 days. In patients who died, there was greater representation of Black and Asian ethnicity in trajectory clusters for C-reactive protein and urea-to-creatinine ratio associated with increased risk of death. Inclusion of trajectory clusters in survival analyses attenuated or abrogated the higher risk of death in Asian and Black patients. Inclusion of C-reactive protein went from hazard ratio (HR) 1.36 [0.95-1.94] to HR 0.97 [0.59-1.59] (wave 1), and from HR 1.42 [1.15-1.75]) to HR 1.04 [0.78-1.39] (wave 2) in Asian patients. Trajectory clusters associated with reduced 30-day survival were similarly associated with worse secondary outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical biochemical monitoring of COVID-19 and progression and treatment response in SARS-CoV-2 infection should be interpreted in the context of ethnic background.

Occupational role and COVID-19 among foreign-born healthcare workers in Sweden: a registry-based study

BACKGROUND

Many studies report that foreign-born healthcare workers (HCWs) in high-income countries have an elevated risk of COVID-19. However, research has not yet specifically evaluated the distribution of COVID-19 among foreign-born workers in different healthcare work groups. We examined the risk of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization among foreign-born HCWs in different occupational roles in Sweden.

METHODS

We linked occupational data (2019) of 783 950 employed foreign-born workers (20-65 years) to COVID-19 data registered between 1 January 2020 and 30 September 2021. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization in eight healthcare occupational groups vs. non-HCWs and assessed whether region of birth modified the association between healthcare occupations and COVID-19.

RESULTS

All HCWs had a higher risk of COVID-19 outcomes than non-HCWs, but the risk differed by occupational role. Hospital-based assistant nurses had the highest risk (infection: HR 1.78; 95% CI 1.72-1.85; hospitalization: HR 1.79; 95% CI 1.52-2.11); allied HCWs had the lowest risk (infection: HR 1.22; 95% CI 1.10-1.35; hospitalization: HR 0.98; 95% CI 0.59-1.63). The relative hazard of the outcomes varied across foreign-born workers from different regions. For example, the relative risk of COVID-19 infection associated with being a physician compared to a non-HCW was 31% higher for African-born than European-born workers.

CONCLUSIONS

The risk of COVID-19 among foreign-born HCWs differed by occupational role and immigrant background. Public health efforts that target occupational exposures as well as incorporate culturally responsive measures may help reduce COVID-19 risk among foreign-born HCWs.

Selective IgA Deficiency May Be an Underrecognized Risk Factor for Severe COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2, the agent responsible for COVID-19, has wreaked havoc around the globe. Hundreds of millions of individuals have been infected and well over six million have died from COVID-19. Many COVID-19 survivors have ongoing physical and psychiatric morbidity, which will remain for the rest of their lives. Early in the pandemic, it became apparent that older individuals and those with comorbidities including obesity, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, hypertension, and renal and pulmonary disease were at increased risk of adverse outcomes. It is also clear that some immunodeficient patients, such as those with innate or T cell-immune defects, are at greater risk from COVID-19. Selective IgA deficiency (sIgAD) is generally regarded as a mild disorder in which most patients are asymptomatic because of redundancy in protective immune mechanisms. Recent data indicate that patients with sIgAD may be at high risk of severe COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 gains entry primarily through the upper respiratory tract mucosa, where IgA has a critical protective role. This may underlie the vulnerability of sIgAD patients to adverse outcomes from COVID-19. This perspective highlights the need for ongoing research into mucosal immunity to improve COVID-19 treatments for patients with sIgAD.

Clinical characteristics of patients infected with novel coronavirus wild strain, Delta variant strain and Omicron variant strain in Quanzhou: A real‑world study

This study aimed to investigate the clinical features of patients infected with novel coronavirus wild strains, Delta variant strains and Omicron variant strains to provide a reference for early clinical diagnosis and prognostic assessment. The demographic, clinical symptoms and ancillary examination data of 47 patients with novel coronavirus wild type strain infection, 18 with Delta variant infection and 20 with Omicron variant infection admitted to the First Hospital of Quanzhou affiliated with Fujian Medical University were collected and analyzed. The novel coronavirus wild strain and Delta strain were the predominant clinical types; patients infected with the Omicron strain were mainly asymptomatic. Fever and fatigue were the main clinical manifestations in the wild strain and Delta strain groups, whereas dry cough, nasal congestion, sore throat and fever were common clinical manifestations in the Omicron strain group. The Delta strain and Omicron variant groups had fewer comorbidities than the wild-type strain group, but no significant reduction was observed in the negative conversion time of nucleic acids. Significant differences were found in the neutrophil count/lymphocyte count ratio, lymphocyte count, eosinophil count, red blood cell count, hemoglobin level, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, prothrombin time, international normalized ratio and plasma D-dimer, PH, PaO₂, lactic acid and albumin levels among the three groups. Patients infected with the Omicron strain in Quanzhou presented with mild symptoms of the upper respiratory tract as the primary clinical manifestation and had few comorbidities and a good prognosis; however, the negative conversion time of the new coronavirus nucleic acid was still considerably long.

Vitamin D deficiency in British South Asians, a persistent but avoidable problem associated with many health risks (including rickets, T2DM, CVD, COVID-19 and pregnancy complications): the case for correcting this deficiency

High vitamin D deficiency rates, with rickets and osteomalacia, have been common in South Asians (SAs) arriving in Britain since the 1950s with preventable infant deaths from hypocalcaemic status-epilepticus and cardiomyopathy. Vitamin D deficiency increases common SA disorders (type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease), recent trials and non-linear Mendelian randomisation studies having shown deficiency to be causal for both disorders. Ethnic minority, obesity, diabetes and social deprivation are recognised COVID-19 risk factors, but vitamin D deficiency is not, despite convincing mechanistic evidence of it. Adjusting analyses for obesity/ethnicity abolishes vitamin D deficiency in COVID-19 risk prediction, but both factors lower serum 25(OH)D specifically. Social deprivation inadequately explains increased ethnic minority COVID-19 risks. SA vitamin D deficiency remains uncorrected after 70 years, official bodies using 'education', 'assimilation' and 'diet' as 'proxies' for ethnic differences and increasing pressures to assimilate. Meanwhile, English rickets was abolished from ~1940 by free 'welfare foods' (meat, milk, eggs, cod liver oil), for all pregnant/nursing mothers and young children (<5 years old). Cod liver oil was withdrawn from antenatal clinics in 1994 (for excessive vitamin A teratogenicity), without alternative provision. The take-up of the 2006 'Healthy-Start' scheme of food-vouchers for low-income families with young children (<3 years old) has been poor, being inaccessible and poorly publicised. COVID-19 pandemic advice for UK adults in 'lockdown' was '400 IU vitamin D/day', inadequate for correcting the deficiency seen winter/summer at 17.5%/5.9% in White, 38.5%/30% in Black and 57.2%/50.8% in SA people in representative UK Biobank subjects when recruited ~14 years ago and remaining similar in 2018. Vitamin D inadequacy worsens many non-skeletal health risks. Not providing vitamin D for preventing SA rickets and osteomalacia continues to be unacceptable, as deficiency-related health risks increase ethnic health disparities, while abolishing vitamin D deficiency would be easier and more cost-effective than correcting any other factor worsening ethnic minority health in Britain.

Impact of Social Deprivation on Hospitalization and Intensive Care Unit Admission among COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disproportionately affected socially disadvantaged groups; however, the association between socioeconomic status and healthcare utilization among COVID-19 patients remains unclear. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess the association between socioeconomic status and hospitalization and intensive care unit admission among COVID-19 patients.

Methods

PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials were searched for relevant literature (updated to Jun 2022). Studies that investigated the association of social deprivation with hospitalization and intensive care unit admission in COVID-19 patients were included. The primary outcomes included risk of hospitalization and intensive care unit admission, measured by odds ratio.

Results

Eleven studies covering 2,423,095 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Socially disadvantaged patients had higher odds of hospitalization in comparison to socially advantaged patients (odds ratio 1.25, 95% confidence interval: 1.14 to 1.38; P<0.01). The odds of intensive care unit admission among more deprived patients was not significantly different from that of less deprived patients (odds ratio 1.03, 95% confidence interval: 0.78 to 1.35; P=0.85). These findings were proven robust through subgroup and sensitivity analyses.

Conclusion

Socially disadvantaged populations have higher odds of hospitalization if they become infected with COVID-19. More effective medical support and interventions for these vulnerable populations are required to reduce inequity in healthcare utilization and alleviate the burden on healthcare systems.

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron: Light at the End of the Long Pandemic Tunnel or Another False Dawn for Immunodeficient Patients?

COVID-19 has had a disastrous impact on the world. Apart from at least 6 million deaths, countless COVID-19 survivors are suffering long-term physical and psychiatric morbidity. Hundreds of millions have been plunged into poverty caused by economic misery, particularly in developing nations. Early in the pandemic, it became apparent certain groups of individuals such as the elderly and those with comorbidities were more likely to suffer severe disease. In addition, patients with some forms of immunodeficiency, including those with T-cell and innate immune defects, were at risk of poor outcomes. Patients with immunodeficiencies are also disadvantaged as they may not respond optimally to COVID-19 vaccines and often have pre-existing lung damage. SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.529) and its subvariants (BA.1, BA.2, etc) have emerged recently and are dominating COVID-19 infections globally. Omicron is associated with a reduced risk of hospitalization and appears to have a lower case fatality rate compared with previous SARS-CoV-2 variants. Omicron has offered hope the pandemic may finally be coming to an end, particularly for vaccinated, healthy individuals. The situation is less clear for individuals with vulnerabilities, particularly immunodeficient patients. This perspective offers insight into potential implications of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant for patients with immunodeficiencies.

Characterization of demographic data, clinical signs, comorbidities, and outcomes according to the race in hospitalized individuals with COVID-19 in Brazil: An observational study

Background

Brazil is a multiracial country with five major official races: White, Black, individuals with multiracial backgrounds, Asian, and Indigenous. Brazil is also one of the epicentres of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID)-19 pandemic. Thus, we evaluated how the races of the Brazilian population contribute to the outcomes in hospitalized individuals with COVID-19, and we also described the clinical profile of the five official Brazilian races.

Methods

We performed an epidemiological analysis for the first 67 epidemiological weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil (from February 22, 2020, to April 04, 2021) using the data available at OpenDataSUS of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, a data set containing data from Brazilian hospitalized individuals. We evaluated more than 30 characteristics, including demographic data, clinical symptoms, comorbidities, need for intensive care unit and mechanical ventilation, and outcomes.

Results

In our data, 585 655 hospitalized individuals with a positive result in SARS-CoV-2 real-time chain reaction (RT-PCR) were included. Of these total, 309 646 (52.9%) identified as White, 31 872 (5.4%) identified as Black, 7108 (1.2%) identified as Asian, 235 108 (40.1%) identified as individuals with multiracial background, and 1921 (0.3%) identified as Indigenous. The multivariate analysis demonstrated that race was significative to predict the death being that Black (OR = 1.43; 95% CI = 1.39-1.48), individuals with multiracial background (OR = 1.36; 95% CI = 1.34-1.38), and Indigenous (OR = 1.91; 95% CI = 1.70-2.15) races were more prone to die compared to the White race. The Asian individuals did not have a higher chance of dying due to SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to White individuals (OR = 0.99; 95% CI = 0.94-1.06). In addition, other characteristics contributed as such as being male (OR = 1.17; 95% CI = 1.16-1.19), age (mainly, +85 years old – OR = 23.02; 95% CI = 20.05-26.42) compared to 1-year-old individuals, living in rural areas (OR = 1.22; 95% CI = 1.18-1.26) or in peri-urban places (OR = 1.25; 95% CI = 1.11-1.40), and the presence of nosocomial infection (OR = 1.91; 95% CI = 1.82-2.01). Among the clinical symptoms, the main predictors were dyspnoea (OR = 1.25; 95% CI = 1.23-1.28), respiratory discomfort (OR = 1.30; 95% CI = 1.28-1.32), oxygen saturation <95% (OR = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.38-1.43). Also, among the comorbidities, the main predictors were the presence of immunosuppressive disorder (OR = 1.44; 95% CI = 1.39-1.49), neurological disorder (OR = 1.21; 95% CI = 1.17-1.25), hepatic disorder (OR = 1.41; 95% CI = 1.34-1.50), diabetes mellitus (OR = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.37-1.42), cardiopathy (OR = 1.13; 95%CI = 1.11-1.14), hematologic disorder (OR = 1.34; 95% CI = 1.24-1.43), Down syndrome (OR = 1.61; 95% CI = 1.43-1.81), renal disease (OR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.11-1.18), and obesity (OR = 1.18; 95% CI = 1.15-1.21). Individuals on intensive care unit (OR = 2.25; 95% CI = 2.22-2.29) and on invasive (OR = 10.92; 95% CI = 10.66-11.18) or non-invasive (OR = 1.33; 95% CI = 1.30-1.35) mechanical ventilation were more prone to die.

Conclusions

Alongside several clinical symptoms and comorbidities, we associated race with an enhanced risk of death in Black individuals, individuals with multiracial backgrounds, and Indigenous peoples.