bims-covirf 2021-01-24 papers

Issue of 2021–01–24
four papers selected by
Catherine Rycroft, BresMed

Res Sq. 2021 Jan 18. pii: rs.3.rs-144684. [Epub ahead of print]

Coronavirus (COVID-19): A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis to Evaluate the Significance of Demographics and Comorbidities.

Arinjita Bhattacharyya, Anand Seth, Niharika Srivast, Michael Imeokparia, Shesh Rai.

Background The unprecedented outbreak of a contagious respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus has led to a pandemic since December 2019, claiming millions of lives. The study systematically reviews and summarizes COVID-19's impact based on symptoms, demographics, comorbidities, and demonstrates the association of demographics in cases and mortality in the United States.Methods PubMed and Google Scholar were searched from December 2019- August 2020, and articles restricted to the English language were collected following PRISMA guidelines. US CDC data was used for establishing statistical significance of age, sex, and race.Results• Among 3745 patients in China, mean age is 50.63 (95% CI: 36.84, 64.42) years, and 55.7 % (95% CI: 52.2, 59.2) were males. Symptoms included fever 86.5% (82.7, 90.0), fatigue 41.9% (32.7, 51.4), dyspnea 29.0% (21.2, 37.5), cough 66.0% (61.3, 70.6), mucus 66% (61.3, 70.6), lymphopenia 18.9% (5.2, 38.0). Prevalent comorbidities were hypertension 16.4% (12.5, 20.8), diabetes 8.9% (7.0, 11.1), CVD 10.9% (6.1, 16.7), ARDS 14.6% (4.9, 27.8), malignancy 1.5 ( 0.05, 2.8), 1.3% (0.08, 1.9), COPD 1.3 (0.08, 1.9). 63.5 % (33.5, 88.7) received oxygen therapy, 20.8% (8.9, 35.7) were in ventilation, 23.5% (5.9, 47.8) were at the ICU. 86.5% (76.8, 94) had antiviral, 73.9% (55.3, 89.0) had antibiotics, 30% (20.6, 40.2) corticosteroids treatment.• In the US, the odds ratio of infection in males to females is 0.873 (CI: 0.052,14.791), while the odds of dying from infection is 1.378 (CI: 0.081, 23.528) for males. The prevalence of infection is higher in females; case and death rates are higher in whites and Hispanics than other races; the death rate is higher in males irrespective of race and age; death rate per 100,000 population increases monotonically with age.Conclusion Results showed that metabolic diseases comprising CVD, diabetes, hypertension, and respiratory diseases, including COPD, ARDS, are the most common comorbidities to severe condition and poor prognosis in covid-19 patients. Following the recent FDA's guidance for designing Covid-19 vaccine trials, stratification factors of age, race, sex, and comorbidities need consideration in allocation. This study aimed to provide clinical researchers, health policy planners a detailed insight into the coronavirus disease.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-144684/v1

Eur J Pediatr. 2021 Jan 20.

Demographic predictors of hospitalization and mortality in US children with COVID-19.

Alvaro Moreira, Kevin Chorath, Karthik Rajasekaran, Fiona Burmeister, Mubbasheer Ahmed, Axel Moreira.

Understanding which children are at increased risk for poor outcome with COVID-19 is critical. In this study, we link pediatric population-based data from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention to COVID-19 hospitalization and in-hospital death. In 27,045 US children with confirmed COVID-19, we demonstrate that African American [OR 2.28 (95% CI: 1.93, 2.70)] or mixed race [OR 2.95 (95% CI: 2.28, 3.82)] and an underlying medical condition [OR 3.55 (95% CI: 3.14, 4.01)] are strong predictors for hospitalization. Death occurred in 39 (0.19%) of 20,096 hospitalized children; children with a prior medical condition had an increased odd for death [OR 8.8 (95% CI: 3.7, 21.1)].Conclusion: Hospitalization and in-hospital death are rare in children diagnosed with COVID-19. However, children at higher risk for these outcomes include those with an underlying medical condition, as well as those of African American descent. What is Known: • Demographic factors are independent prognosticators of poor outcome in children with COVID-19. What is New: • Children with an underlying medical condition and those from an African American or mixed race/ethnicity are at high risk for COVID-19 hospitalization. • History of a comorbidity supersedes age, gender, and race/ethnicity as a risk factor for in-hospital pediatric COVID-19 death.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-NET; Children; Pediatric; SARS-CoV-2

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-021-03955-x

Aging (Albany NY). 2020 12 31. 13(1): 27-60

Mortality risk of COVID-19 in elderly males with comorbidities: a multi-country study.

Guangdi Li, Yacong Liu, Xixi Jing, Yali Wang, Miao Miao, Li Tao, Zhiguo Zhou, Yuanlin Xie, Yaxiong Huang, Jianhua Lei, Guozhong Gong, Ping Jin, Yuantao Hao, Nuno Rodrigues Faria, Erik De Clercq, Min Zhang.

The COVID-19 pandemic causes severe morbidity and mortality. This multi-country study aimed to explore risk factors that drive mortality in COVID-19 patients who received neither dexamethasone nor remdesivir. We analyzed a cohort of 568 survivors and 507 non-survivors from China, European regions, and North America. Elderly males ≥70 years accounted for only 25% of survivors, but this rate was significantly higher in non-survivors from China (55%), European regions (63%), and North America (47%). Compared with survivors, non-survivors had more incidences of comorbidities such as cerebrovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, p-values<0.05). Survival analyses revealed age, male gender, shortness of breath, cerebrovascular disease, and COPD as mortality-associated factors. Survival time from symptom onset was significantly shorter in elderly versus young patients (median: 29 versus 62 days), males versus females (median: 46 versus 59 days), and patients with versus without comorbidities (mean: 41 versus 61 days). Mortality risk was higher in elderly males with comorbidities than in young females without comorbidities (p-value<0.01). Elderly male survivors with comorbidities also had longer hospital stays than other survivors (25 versus 18.5 days, p-value<0.01). Overall, the high mortality risk in elderly males with COVID-19-associated comorbidities supports early prevention and critical care for elderly populations.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; comorbidities; mortality; risk factors

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.202456

Ann Acad Med Singap. 2020 12;49(12): 996-1008

Obesity in COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Jamie S Y Ho, Daniel I Fernando, Mark Y Chan, Ching Hui Sia.

OBJECTIVE: Obesity has been shown to be associated with adverse outcomes in viral infections such as influenza, but previous studies on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had mixed results. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 and obesity.
METHODS: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis. A literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, CENTRAL, OpenGrey and preprint servers medRxiv and bioRxiv was performed, with no restriction on language or date of publication. Primary outcomes of this study were intensive care unit (ICU) admission or critical disease, severe disease and mortality. Secondary outcome was a positive COVID-19 test. Meta-analysis was performed using OpenMeta-Analyst software, and heterogeneity was tested using Cochran's Q test and I2 statistic. The study protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020184953).
RESULTS: A total of 1,493 articles were identified and 61 studies on 270,241 patients were included. The pooled prevalence of obesity was 27.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 22.0-33.2) in hospitalised patients. Obesity was not significantly associated with increased ICU admission or critical illness (odds ratio [OR] 1.25, 95% CI 0.99-1.58, P=0.062, I2 =31.0) but was significantly associated with more severe disease (OR 3.13, 95% CI 1.41-6.92, P=0.005, I2 =82.6), mortality (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.09-1.69, P=0.006, I2=88.5) and a positive COVID-19 test (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.25-1.81, P<0.001).
CONCLUSION: Obesity increased the risk of severe disease, mortality and infection with COVID-19. Higher body mass index was associated with ICU admission and critical disease. Patients who are obese may be more susceptible to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and infected patients should be monitored closely for adverse outcomes.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.2020299