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Backer JA, Vos ERA, den Hartog G, van Hagen CCE, de Melker HE, van der Klis FRM, Wallinga J. Contact behaviour before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands: evidence from contact surveys, 2016 to 2017 and 2020 to 2023. Euro Surveill 2024; 29:2400143. [PMID: 39450517 PMCID: PMC11513762 DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.es.2024.29.43.2400143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2024] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 10/26/2024] Open
Abstract
BackgroundThe first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was largely mitigated by limiting contacts in the general population. In early 2022, most contact-reducing measures were lifted.AimTo assess whether the population has reverted to pre-pandemic contact behaviour and how this would affect transmission potential of a newly emerging pathogen.MethodsWe compared two studies on contact behaviour in the Netherlands: the PIENTER Corona study, conducted during and after the pandemic (held every 2-6 months from April 2020) and the PIENTER3 study (2016-17, as pre-pandemic baseline). In both, participants (ages 1-85 years) reported number and age group of all face-to-face persons contacted on the previous day in a survey. Transmission potential was examined using the next-generation matrix approach.ResultsWe found an average of 15.4 (95% CI: 14.3-16.4) community contacts per person per day after the pandemic in May 2023, 13% lower than baseline (17.8; 95% CI: 17.0-18.5). Among all ages, children (5-9 years) had the highest number of contacts, both pre- and post-pandemic. Mainly adults aged 20-59 years had not reverted to pre-pandemic behaviours, possibly because they more often work from home. Although the number of contacts is lower compared to the pre-pandemic period, the effect on transmission potential of a newly emerging respiratory pathogen is limited if all age groups were equally susceptible.ConclusionContinuous monitoring of contacts can signal changes in contact patterns and can define a 'new normal' baseline. Both aspects are needed to prepare for a future pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jantien A Backer
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Eric R A Vos
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Gerco den Hartog
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Cheyenne C E van Hagen
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Hester E de Melker
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Fiona R M van der Klis
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Jacco Wallinga
- Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
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Lo E, Brousseau N, Defay F, Fortin É, Kiely M. Neighborhood-level vaccine impact on COVID-19 infection and hospital admission in Quebec, Canada, during the Delta and early Omicron periods. Vaccine 2024; 42:636-644. [PMID: 38135643 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.12.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Revised: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on COVID-19 infection and hospitalisation at the population-level, and to assess the indirect effects of vaccination in the province of Quebec, Canada. METHODS We performed a time-stratified, neighborhood-level ecologic study. The exposure was neighborhood-level vaccination (primary series) coverage; outcomes were COVID-19 infection and hospitalisation rates. We used robust Poisson regression to estimate weekly relative rates of infection and hospitalisation versus vaccination. RESULTS Higher vaccination coverage was associated with lower COVID-19 infection rates from July 18-December 4 for the year 2021 (Delta period) (RR≈0.46 [0.39; 0.54] - 0.94 [0.83; 1.05], 85-100% vs. 60-74% coverage). From December 5-December 25, this association reversed (RR≈1.28 [1.16; 1.41] - 1.41 [1.31; 1.52]), possibly due to the Omicron variant, social behaviors and accumulation of susceptibles in more vaccinated neighborhoods. Vaccine impact against hospitalisation was maintained throughout (RR≈0.43 [0.29; 0.65] - 0.88 [0.64; 1.22]). Vaccination provided substantial indirect protection (RR≈0.43 [0.34; 0.54] - 0.81 [0.65; 1.03]). CONCLUSIONS This study confirmed the protective impact of vaccination against severe disease regardless of variant, at the population level. Ecological analyses are a valuable strategy to evaluate vaccination programs. Population-level effects can have substantial effects and should be accounted for in public health and vaccination program planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ernest Lo
- Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Québec, QC, Canada; Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
| | - Nicholas Brousseau
- Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Québec, QC, Canada; Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada; Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec - Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
| | - Fannie Defay
- Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Québec, QC, Canada.
| | - Élise Fortin
- Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Québec, QC, Canada; Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada; Département de microbiologie, infectiologie et immunologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
| | - Marilou Kiely
- Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Québec, QC, Canada; Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec - Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
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Torabi SH, Riahi SM, Ebrahimzadeh A, Salmani F. Changes in symptoms and characteristics of COVID-19 patients across different variants: two years study using neural network analysis. BMC Infect Dis 2023; 23:838. [PMID: 38017395 PMCID: PMC10683353 DOI: 10.1186/s12879-023-08813-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/12/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Considering the fact that COVID-19 has undergone various changes over time, its symptoms have also varied. The aim of this study is to describe and compare the changes in personal characteristics, symptoms, and underlying conditions of individuals infected with different strains of COVID-19. METHODS This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 46,747 patients who underwent PCR testing during a two-year period from February 22, 2020 to February 23, 2022, in South Khorasan province, Iran. Patient characteristics and symptoms were extracted based on self-report and the information system. The data were analyzed using logistic regression and artificial neural network approaches. The R software was used for analysis and a significance level of 0.05 was considered for the tests. RESULTS Among the 46,747 cases analyzed, 23,239 (49.7%) were male, and the mean age was 51.48 ± 21.41 years. There was a significant difference in symptoms among different variants of the disease (p < 0.001). The factors with a significant positive association were myalgia (OR: 2.04; 95% CI, 1.76 - 2.36), cough (OR: 1.93; 95% CI, 1.68-2.22), and taste or smell disorder (OR: 2.62; 95% CI, 2.1 - 3.28). Additionally, aging was found to increase the likelihood of testing positive across the six periods. CONCLUSION We found that older age, myalgia, cough and taste/smell disorder are better factors compared to dyspnea or high body temperature, for identifying a COVID-19 patient. As the disease evolved, chills and diarrhea, demonstrated prognostic strength as in Omicron.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyed Hossein Torabi
- School of Medicine, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, South Khorasan Province, Iran
| | - Seyed Mohammad Riahi
- Epidemiology Department of Family and Community Medicine, School of Medicine Cardiovascular Diseases Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, South Khorasan Province, Iran
| | - Azadeh Ebrahimzadeh
- Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine Infectious Diseases Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, South Khorasan Province, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Salmani
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Health Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, South Khorasan Province, Iran.
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Wambua J, Loedy N, Jarvis CI, Wong KLM, Faes C, Grah R, Prasse B, Sandmann F, Niehus R, Johnson H, Edmunds W, Beutels P, Hens N, Coletti P. The influence of COVID-19 risk perception and vaccination status on the number of social contacts across Europe: insights from the CoMix study. BMC Public Health 2023; 23:1350. [PMID: 37442987 PMCID: PMC10347859 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-16252-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics have been greatly modulated by human contact behaviour. To curb the spread of the virus, global efforts focused on implementing both Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) and pharmaceutical interventions such as vaccination. This study was conducted to explore the influence of COVID-19 vaccination status and risk perceptions related to SARS-CoV-2 on the number of social contacts of individuals in 16 European countries. METHODS We used data from longitudinal surveys conducted in the 16 European countries to measure social contact behaviour in the course of the pandemic. The data consisted of representative panels of participants in terms of gender, age and region of residence in each country. The surveys were conducted in several rounds between December 2020 and September 2021 and comprised of 29,292 participants providing a total of 111,103 completed surveys. We employed a multilevel generalized linear mixed effects model to explore the influence of risk perceptions and COVID-19 vaccination status on the number of social contacts of individuals. RESULTS The results indicated that perceived severity played a significant role in social contact behaviour during the pandemic after controlling for other variables (p-value < 0.001). More specifically, participants who had low or neutral levels of perceived severity reported 1.25 (95% Confidence intervals (CI) 1.13 - 1.37) and 1.10 (95% CI 1.00 - 1.21) times more contacts compared to those who perceived COVID-19 to be a serious illness, respectively. Additionally, vaccination status was also a significant predictor of contacts (p-value < 0.001), with vaccinated individuals reporting 1.31 (95% CI 1.23 - 1.39) times higher number of contacts than the non-vaccinated. Furthermore, individual-level factors played a more substantial role in influencing contact behaviour than country-level factors. CONCLUSION Our multi-country study yields significant insights on the importance of risk perceptions and vaccination in behavioral changes during a pandemic emergency. The apparent increase in social contact behaviour following vaccination would require urgent intervention in the event of emergence of an immune escaping variant.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Wambua
- Data Science Institute, I-BioStat, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Neilshan Loedy
- Data Science Institute, I-BioStat, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Christopher I. Jarvis
- Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, WC1E 7HT London, UK
| | - Kerry L. M. Wong
- Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, WC1E 7HT London, UK
| | - Christel Faes
- Data Science Institute, I-BioStat, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Rok Grah
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Gustav III:s Boulevard 40, 169 73 Solna, Sweden
| | - Bastian Prasse
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Gustav III:s Boulevard 40, 169 73 Solna, Sweden
| | - Frank Sandmann
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Gustav III:s Boulevard 40, 169 73 Solna, Sweden
| | - Rene Niehus
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Gustav III:s Boulevard 40, 169 73 Solna, Sweden
| | - Helen Johnson
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Gustav III:s Boulevard 40, 169 73 Solna, Sweden
- Current Address: Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), European Commission, 1049, Brussels, Belgium
| | - W.John Edmunds
- Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, WC1E 7HT London, UK
| | - Philippe Beutels
- Centre for Health Economics Research and Modelling Infectious Diseases, Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
- The University of New South Wales, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Sydney, NSW 2033 Australia
| | - Niel Hens
- Data Science Institute, I-BioStat, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium
- Centre for Health Economics Research and Modelling Infectious Diseases, Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Pietro Coletti
- Data Science Institute, I-BioStat, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium
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Luebben G, González-Parra G, Cervantes B. Study of optimal vaccination strategies for early COVID-19 pandemic using an age-structured mathematical model: A case study of the USA. MATHEMATICAL BIOSCIENCES AND ENGINEERING : MBE 2023; 20:10828-10865. [PMID: 37322963 PMCID: PMC11216547 DOI: 10.3934/mbe.2023481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
In this paper we study different vaccination strategies that could have been implemented for the early COVID-19 pandemic. We use a demographic epidemiological mathematical model based on differential equations in order to investigate the efficacy of a variety of vaccination strategies under limited vaccine supply. We use the number of deaths as the metric to measure the efficacy of each of these strategies. Finding the optimal strategy for the vaccination programs is a complex problem due to the large number of variables that affect the outcomes. The constructed mathematical model takes into account demographic risk factors such as age, comorbidity status and social contacts of the population. We perform simulations to assess the performance of more than three million vaccination strategies which vary depending on the vaccine priority of each group. This study focuses on the scenario corresponding to the early vaccination period in the USA, but can be extended to other countries. The results of this study show the importance of designing an optimal vaccination strategy in order to save human lives. The problem is extremely complex due to the large amount of factors, high dimensionality and nonlinearities. We found that for low/moderate transmission rates the optimal strategy prioritizes high transmission groups, but for high transmission rates, the optimal strategy focuses on groups with high CFRs. The results provide valuable information for the design of optimal vaccination programs. Moreover, the results help to design scientific vaccination guidelines for future pandemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Luebben
- Department of Mathematics, New Mexico Tech, New Mexico, 87801, USA
| | | | - Bishop Cervantes
- Department of Mathematics, New Mexico Tech, New Mexico, 87801, USA
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Gallè F, Sabella EA, Bianco L, Maninchedda M, Barchielli B, Liguori F, Da Molin G, Liguori G, Orsi GB, Ferracuti S, Napoli C. How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Impacted Daily Life? Assessing the Use of Web Resources for Recreational Activities in the Italian Adult Population. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:15136. [PMID: 36429855 PMCID: PMC9690348 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192215136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Restriction measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in people's lives and behaviors. The aim of this paper is to assess the changes occurred in physical activity (PA), sleep, social and cultural activities and personal relationships of Italian adults during the pandemic and to evaluate the use of web-based resources to continue these activities. To this purpose, a cross-sectional study using a web-based questionnaire was carried out and both descriptive and regression analysis was performed. On a total of 1831 participants (61% females, age 18-93 years), the majority reported a decrease in PA, sleep, social and cultural activities and personal relationships, since the beginning of the pandemic. Sleep was notably affected by the use of new technologies. The regression analysis demonstrated that the use of web-based media for doing exercise was associated with being younger than 50 years and female; having a chronic condition was inversely related with the use of web resources for social and cultural activities and to maintain relationships; being employed was negatively related with the use of web media for continuing personal relationships and cultural activities; and being vaccinated against COVID-19 was positively associated with the use of the web for personal relationships. These findings confirm that the COVID-19 pandemic notably affected the daily life of Italian adults. Our results suggest that the use of technology to deal with these changes seems to be related with certain sociodemographic and health-related characteristics. These findings can be useful to identify those characteristics that can help people in copying with daily life modifications due to restriction measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Gallè
- Department of Movement Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Via Medina 40, 80133 Naples, Italy
| | - Elita Anna Sabella
- Inter-University Research Centre “Population, Environment and Health”, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza Cesare Battisti 1, 70121 Bari, Italy
| | - Lavinia Bianco
- Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Mario Maninchedda
- Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Benedetta Barchielli
- Department of Dynamic, Clinical Psychology and Health, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Via degli Apuli 1, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Liguori
- Department of Economics and Legal Studies, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Via Generale Parisi 13, 80132 Naples, Italy
| | - Giovanna Da Molin
- Inter-University Research Centre “Population, Environment and Health”, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza Cesare Battisti 1, 70121 Bari, Italy
| | - Giorgio Liguori
- Department of Movement Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Via Medina 40, 80133 Naples, Italy
| | - Giovanni Battista Orsi
- Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Stefano Ferracuti
- Department of Human Neuroscience, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Christian Napoli
- Department of Medical Surgical Sciences and Translational Medicine, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Via di Grottarossa 1035/1039, 00189 Rome, Italy
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Al-Momani H, Aldajah K, Alda'ajah E, ALjafar Y, Abushawer Z. Effectiveness of Pfizer/BioNTech and Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines in reducing hospital admissions in prince Hamza hospital, Jordan. Front Public Health 2022; 10:1008521. [PMID: 36211700 PMCID: PMC9532618 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1008521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Background There is a need to establish the effectiveness of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines in reducing COVID-19-related hopitalization of patients in Jordan. As the vaccination program accelerates, it is important to determine whether the vaccines' effectiveness (VE) has successfully reduced the number of acute cases admitted to hospital. Methods To determine the efficacy of Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines among Jordanian patients admitted to Prince Hamza hospital, a single center case-control study was performed. The study analyzed the hospitalization rates of vaccinated (n = 536) and unvaccinated (n = 585) individuals across the 2-month period from February 6 to April 6, 2022. The cases were patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 ("case-patients"), whilst the control group were hospital patients who did not test positive for SARS-CoV-2 ("control-patients"). Results This study found that among 1,121 total participants (561 cases and 560 control), the overall vaccine effectiveness (VE) among the participants was 84% (95% Cl 79-88%). VE was higher in females (88%, 95% Cl 84-93%) than in males (77%, 95% Cl 67-84%) (p < 0.001), and it was highest in those between the ages of 18 and 28-years-old (95%, 95% CI 86-98%). For patients with pre-existing conditions, including chronic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and diabetes, VE was higher compared to patients with no comorbidities, though the difference was not statistically significant. Finally, in comparing all vaccinated participants, VE was higher for those who received the Pfizer vaccine (VE = 92%, 95% CI 88-94%) (OR 0.08, 95% CI 0.06-0.12) than for those who received the Sinopharm vaccine (VE = 67%, 95% CI 52-78%) (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.22-0.48); (p = 0.011). Conclusion Overall, Pfizer and Sinopharm vaccines were found to be effective in limiting hospitalizations for acute cases of coronavirus among Jordanian adult's patient's cohort between February 6 and April 6, 2022, especially among patients with comorbidities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hafez Al-Momani
- Basic Medical Science Department, School of Medicine, Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan,*Correspondence: Hafez Al-Momani
| | - Khawla Aldajah
- Infection Control Unit, Prince Hamza Hospital, Amman, Jordan
| | | | - Yousef ALjafar
- Infection Control Unit, Prince Hamza Hospital, Amman, Jordan
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