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Review
. 2021 Mar 13;18(6):2942.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18062942.

The Epidemiological Characteristics of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Europe: Focus on Italy

Giovanni Gabutti  1 , Erica d'Anchera  2 , Francesco De Motoli  2 , Marta Savio  2 , Armando Stefanati  1
Affiliations
Review

The Epidemiological Characteristics of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Europe: Focus on Italy

Giovanni Gabutti et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Starting from December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has forcefully entered our lives and profoundly changed all the habits of the world population. The COVID-19 pandemic has violently impacted the European continent, first involving only some European countries, Italy in particular, and then spreading to all member states, albeit in different ways and times. The ways SARS-CoV-2 spreads are still partly unknown; to quantify and adequately respond to the pandemic, various parameters and reporting systems have been introduced at national and European levels to promptly recognize the most alarming epidemiological situations and therefore limit the impact of the virus on the health of the population. The relevant key points to implement adequate measures to face the epidemic include identifying the population groups most involved in terms of morbidity and mortality, identifying the events mostly related to the spreading of the virus and recognizing the various viral mutations. The main objective of this work is to summarize the epidemiological situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and Italy almost a year after the first reported case in our continent. The secondary objectives include the definition of the epidemiological parameters used to monitor the epidemic, the explanation of superspreading events and the description of how the epidemic has impacted on health and social structures, with a particular focus on Italy.

Keywords: COVID-19; R0; SARS-CoV-2; epidemiology; intensive care unit; lethality; mortality; nursing homes; preventive measures; public health.

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Conflict of interest statement

A.S., E.d., F.D.M. and M.S. declare no conflict of interest. G.G. declares that he does not have a specific conflict of interest related to this paper; however, he reports grants from Sanofi Pasteur MSD, GSK Biologicals SA, Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur Italy, MSD Italy, Emergent BioSolutions and Seqirus for taking part in advisory boards, expert meetings, acting as speaker and/or organizer of meetings/congresses and acting as principal investigator and chief of OU in RCTs.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trend of COVID-19 cases and deaths in EU/EEA region, 2 March 2020–13 December 2020 (modified from [13,14,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38]).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Diagnosed and asymptomatic cases, 29 January 2020–22 December 2020 (modified from [40]).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Trend of hospitalizations due to COVID-19, 20 February 20–22 December 2020 (modified from [40]).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Daily deaths due to SARS-CoV-2, 21 February–22 December 2020 (modified from [40]).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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