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. 2021 Jan:102:17-19.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.10.005. Epub 2020 Oct 7.

Different pattern of the second outbreak of COVID-19 in Marseille, France

Philippe Gautret  1 , Philippe Colson  2 , Jean Christophe Lagier  2 , Laurence Camoin-Jau  3 , Audrey Giraud-Gatineau  2 , Sophia Boudjema  2 , Julie Finance  4 , Hervé Chaudet  1 , Didier Raoult  5
Affiliations

Different pattern of the second outbreak of COVID-19 in Marseille, France

Philippe Gautret et al. Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Objective: To describe the characteristics of COVID-19 patients seen in March-April and June-August 2020 in Marseille, France with the aim to investigate possible changes in the disease between these two time periods.

Methods: Demographics, hospitalization rate, transfer to intensive care unit (ICU), lethality, clinical and biological parameters were investigated.

Results: Compared to those seen in March-April, COVID-19 patients seen in June-August were significantly younger (39.2 vs. 45.3 years), more likely to be male (52.9% vs. 45.6%), and less likely to be hospitalized (10.7 vs. 18.0%), to be transferred to ICU (0.9% vs. 1.8%) and to die (0.1% vs. 1.1%). Their mean fibrinogen and D-dimer blood levels were lower (1.0 vs. 1.5 g/L and 0.6 vs. 1.1 μg/mL, respectively). By contrast, their viral load was higher (cycle threshold ≤16 = 5.1% vs. 3.7%).

Conclusions: Patients in the two periods did not present marked age and sex differences, but markers of severity were undoubtedly less prevalent in the summer period, associating with a 10 times decrease in the lethality rate.

Keywords: COVID-19; Lethality; Seasonality; Severity markers.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of persons tested for SARS-CoV-2 (black curve), proportion testing positive (red curve) and number of deaths (black bars) in COVID-19 patients per week, at Méditerranée Infection Institute.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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