Age-related mortality in 61,993 confirmed COVID-19 cases over three epidemic waves in Aragon, Spain. Implications for vaccination programmes.
<h4>Background</h4>Risk for severe COVID-19 increases with age. Different vaccination strategies are currently being considered, including those aimed at slowing down transmission and those aimed at providing direct protection to those most at risk.<h4>Methods</h4>The objecti...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2021-01-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0261061&type=printable |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849708161820262400 |
|---|---|
| author | Diego Casas-Deza Vanesa Bernal-Monterde Angel Nicolás Aranda-Alonso Enrique Montil-Miguel Ana Belen Julián-Gomara Laura Letona-Giménez Jose M Arbones-Mainar |
| author_facet | Diego Casas-Deza Vanesa Bernal-Monterde Angel Nicolás Aranda-Alonso Enrique Montil-Miguel Ana Belen Julián-Gomara Laura Letona-Giménez Jose M Arbones-Mainar |
| author_sort | Diego Casas-Deza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Background</h4>Risk for severe COVID-19 increases with age. Different vaccination strategies are currently being considered, including those aimed at slowing down transmission and those aimed at providing direct protection to those most at risk.<h4>Methods</h4>The objectives of the current study were i) to assess age-related incidence and survival between PCR-diagnosed COVID-19 cases (n = 61,993) in the Autonomous Community of Aragon from March to November 2020, and ii) to characterize age differences regarding the course of the disease in hospitalized patients in a tertiary university hospital.<h4>Results</h4>We found a similar incidence of COVID-19 in individuals between 10 and 79 years. Incidence increased in those over 80 years possibly because of the elevated transmission within the nursing homes. We observed a profound disparity among age groups; case fatality rates (CFRs) were near 0 in cases younger than 39 years throughout different waves. In contrast, there was an age-dependent and progressive increase in the CFRs, especially during the first pandemic wave. SARS-CoV-2 infection caused a more severe and rapid progression in older patients. The elderly required faster hospitalization, presented more serious symptoms on admission, and had a worse clinical course. Hospitalized older individuals, even without comorbidities, had an increased mortality risk directly associated with their age. Lastly, the existence of comorbidities dramatically increased the CFRs in the elderly, especially in males.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The elevated incidence of COVID-19 and the vulnerability of the elderly call for their prioritization in vaccination and targeted prevention measures specifically focused on this aged population. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8e4e36ee580948ec82b2b1b60f1e4202 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-8e4e36ee580948ec82b2b1b60f1e42022025-08-20T03:15:44ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-011612e026106110.1371/journal.pone.0261061Age-related mortality in 61,993 confirmed COVID-19 cases over three epidemic waves in Aragon, Spain. Implications for vaccination programmes.Diego Casas-DezaVanesa Bernal-MonterdeAngel Nicolás Aranda-AlonsoEnrique Montil-MiguelAna Belen Julián-GomaraLaura Letona-GiménezJose M Arbones-Mainar<h4>Background</h4>Risk for severe COVID-19 increases with age. Different vaccination strategies are currently being considered, including those aimed at slowing down transmission and those aimed at providing direct protection to those most at risk.<h4>Methods</h4>The objectives of the current study were i) to assess age-related incidence and survival between PCR-diagnosed COVID-19 cases (n = 61,993) in the Autonomous Community of Aragon from March to November 2020, and ii) to characterize age differences regarding the course of the disease in hospitalized patients in a tertiary university hospital.<h4>Results</h4>We found a similar incidence of COVID-19 in individuals between 10 and 79 years. Incidence increased in those over 80 years possibly because of the elevated transmission within the nursing homes. We observed a profound disparity among age groups; case fatality rates (CFRs) were near 0 in cases younger than 39 years throughout different waves. In contrast, there was an age-dependent and progressive increase in the CFRs, especially during the first pandemic wave. SARS-CoV-2 infection caused a more severe and rapid progression in older patients. The elderly required faster hospitalization, presented more serious symptoms on admission, and had a worse clinical course. Hospitalized older individuals, even without comorbidities, had an increased mortality risk directly associated with their age. Lastly, the existence of comorbidities dramatically increased the CFRs in the elderly, especially in males.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The elevated incidence of COVID-19 and the vulnerability of the elderly call for their prioritization in vaccination and targeted prevention measures specifically focused on this aged population.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0261061&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Diego Casas-Deza Vanesa Bernal-Monterde Angel Nicolás Aranda-Alonso Enrique Montil-Miguel Ana Belen Julián-Gomara Laura Letona-Giménez Jose M Arbones-Mainar Age-related mortality in 61,993 confirmed COVID-19 cases over three epidemic waves in Aragon, Spain. Implications for vaccination programmes. PLoS ONE |
| title | Age-related mortality in 61,993 confirmed COVID-19 cases over three epidemic waves in Aragon, Spain. Implications for vaccination programmes. |
| title_full | Age-related mortality in 61,993 confirmed COVID-19 cases over three epidemic waves in Aragon, Spain. Implications for vaccination programmes. |
| title_fullStr | Age-related mortality in 61,993 confirmed COVID-19 cases over three epidemic waves in Aragon, Spain. Implications for vaccination programmes. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Age-related mortality in 61,993 confirmed COVID-19 cases over three epidemic waves in Aragon, Spain. Implications for vaccination programmes. |
| title_short | Age-related mortality in 61,993 confirmed COVID-19 cases over three epidemic waves in Aragon, Spain. Implications for vaccination programmes. |
| title_sort | age related mortality in 61 993 confirmed covid 19 cases over three epidemic waves in aragon spain implications for vaccination programmes |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0261061&type=printable |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT diegocasasdeza agerelatedmortalityin61993confirmedcovid19casesoverthreeepidemicwavesinaragonspainimplicationsforvaccinationprogrammes AT vanesabernalmonterde agerelatedmortalityin61993confirmedcovid19casesoverthreeepidemicwavesinaragonspainimplicationsforvaccinationprogrammes AT angelnicolasarandaalonso agerelatedmortalityin61993confirmedcovid19casesoverthreeepidemicwavesinaragonspainimplicationsforvaccinationprogrammes AT enriquemontilmiguel agerelatedmortalityin61993confirmedcovid19casesoverthreeepidemicwavesinaragonspainimplicationsforvaccinationprogrammes AT anabelenjuliangomara agerelatedmortalityin61993confirmedcovid19casesoverthreeepidemicwavesinaragonspainimplicationsforvaccinationprogrammes AT lauraletonagimenez agerelatedmortalityin61993confirmedcovid19casesoverthreeepidemicwavesinaragonspainimplicationsforvaccinationprogrammes AT josemarbonesmainar agerelatedmortalityin61993confirmedcovid19casesoverthreeepidemicwavesinaragonspainimplicationsforvaccinationprogrammes |