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. 2022 Aug 27;12(1):14639.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-18715-6.

COVID-19 mortality surveillance in Lebanon

Linda Abou-Abbas #  1 , Zeina Nasser #  2 , Mario Baaklini  2 , Lina Cheaito  2 , Jeanette Karout  2 , Hawraa Sweidan  2 , Abbas Jouni  2 , Nada Ghosn  2 , Hamad Hassan  2
Affiliations

COVID-19 mortality surveillance in Lebanon

Linda Abou-Abbas et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Epidemiological surveillance program of the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health has launched a rapid surveillance system for collecting COVID-19-related mortality data. In this study, we document the Lebanese experience of COVID-19 mortality surveillance and provide an analysis of the epidemiological characteristics of confirmed deaths. The implementation of the rapid COVID-19 mortality surveillance system, data sources, and data collection were described. A retrospective descriptive analysis of the epidemiological characteristics of confirmed cases occurring in Lebanon between February 20, 2020, and September 15, 2021, was performed. Epidemiological curves of Covid-19 confirmed cases and deaths as well as the geographic distribution map of mortality rates were generated. Between February 21, 2020, and September 15, 2021, a total of 8163 COVID-19-related deaths were reported with a predominance of males (60.4%). More than 60% were aged 70 years or above. Of all deaths, 84% occurred at hospitals and 16% at home. The overall cumulative mortality rate was 119.6 per 100,000. The overall case fatality ratio (CRF) was 1.3%. Of the total deaths, 82.2% had at least one underlying medical condition. The top reported COVID-19 comorbidities associated with COVID-19-related deaths are cardiovascular diseases including hypertension (59.1%), diabetes (37.2%), kidney diseases including dialysis (11%), cancer (6.7%), and lung diseases (6.3%). The CFR was 30.9% for kidney diseases, 20.2% for cancer, 20.2% for lung diseases, 18.1% for liver diseases, 14% for diabetes, and 12.2% for cardiovascular diseases. Considering the limited human and financial resources in Lebanon due to the economic and political crisis, the rapid mortality surveillance system can be considered successful. Improving this system is important and would contribute to better detection of deaths from emerging and re-emerging diseases during health crises.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The epidemic curve of laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lebanon starting from February 21, 2020 to September 15, 2021.
Figure 2
Figure 2
COVID-19 Death epidemic curve by day, Lebanon, February 21, 2020 to September 15, 2021.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Age-sex pyramid of confirmed COVID-19 cases (N = 614,069) reported in Lebanon between February 21, 2020 and September 15, 2021. (b) Age-sex pyramid of deaths (N = 8163) reported in Lebanon between March 10, 2020 and September 15, 2021.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Cumulative mortality rate/100,000 population per province in Lebanon (March 10, 2020, to September 15, 2021).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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