Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Dec 14;7(1):85.
doi: 10.1186/s40981-021-00489-x.

Treatment and outcome of COVID-19 patients in a specialized hospital during the third wave: advance of age and increased mortality compared with the first/second waves

Yutaka Oda  1 , Motoko Shimada  2 , Satoshi Shiraishi  3 , Osamu Kurai  4
Affiliations

Treatment and outcome of COVID-19 patients in a specialized hospital during the third wave: advance of age and increased mortality compared with the first/second waves

Yutaka Oda et al. JA Clin Rep. .

Abstract

Purpose: To elucidate the clinical course of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treated at a specialized hospital mainly for those with mild and moderate severity during the third wave, and to compare that with the first and second (1st/2nd) waves.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the severity on admission, treatment, and outcome of a total of 581 patients from September, 2020, to March, 2021, and examined the risk factors for deterioration of respiratory condition, defined as requiring oxygen ≥ 7 L/min for 12 h.

Results: The median age was 78 (interquartile range 62-83) years, older than in the 1st/2nd waves (53 years), and 50% of the patients was male. The number of patients classified as mild (peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) ≥ 96%), moderate I, II, and severe (requiring admission to the ICU or mechanical ventilation) was 121, 324, 132, and 4, respectively. Favipiravir, ciclesonide, dexamethasone, and/or heparin were administered for treatment. Respiratory condition recovered in 496 (85%) patients. It worsened in 81 patients (14%); 51 (9%) of whom were transferred to tertiary hospitals and 30 (5%) died. Mortality rate increased by fivefold compared during the 1st/2nd waves. Age, male sex, increased body mass index, and C-reactive protein (CRP) on admission were responsible for worsening of the respiratory condition.

Conclusion: Patients were older in the third wave compared with the 1st/2nd waves. Respiratory condition recovered in 85%; whereas 5% of the patients died. Old age, male sex, increased body mass index, and CRP would be responsible for worsening of the respiratory condition.

Keywords: COVID-19; Pandemic; Specialized hospital; Third wave.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. https://www.who.int/. Accessed November 25, 2021
    1. Matsui K, Inoue Y, Yamamoto K. Rethinking the current older-people-first policy for COVID-19 vaccination in Japan. J Epidemiol. 2021;31:518–519. doi: 10.2188/jea.JE20210263. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Oda Y, Shiraishi S, Shimada M, et al. Clinical profiles and outcome of patients with COVID-19 in a specialized hospital in Japan. J Anesth. 2021;35:405–411. doi: 10.1007/s00540-021-02912-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Situation report. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/covid-19/kokunainohasseijoukyou_00006. html. Accessed November 25, 2021
    1. Tanaka H, Hirayama A, Nagai H, et al. Increased transmissibility of the SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant in a Japanese population. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;18:7752. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18157752. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources