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. 2022 Nov;15(11):1169-1174.
doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2022.09.005. Epub 2022 Sep 21.

COVID-19 vaccine had a significant positive impact on patients with SARS-COV-2 during the third (Omicron) wave in Saudi Arabia

Salma AlBahrani  1 , Ali AlBarrak  2 , Tariq Al-Musawi  3 , Nawal Ali AlGubaisi  4 , Maram Almalki  4 , Fatimah H Hakami  4 , Turki Alghamdi  4 , Zena AlBeiuruti  4 , Sausan Alkhrashi  4 , Meshael Almershad  4 , Samira Alzahrani  4 , Amerah AlQuraiaan  4 , Helmy AlTourifi  4 , Arulanantham Zechariah Jebakumar  5 , Jaffar A Al-Tawfiq  6
Affiliations

COVID-19 vaccine had a significant positive impact on patients with SARS-COV-2 during the third (Omicron) wave in Saudi Arabia

Salma AlBahrani et al. J Infect Public Health. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Introduction: The third (Omicron) wave had caused significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases around the globe. The severity of the disease dependeds on the extent of the vaccination status.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of infected COVID-19 patients during the third (Omicron) wave in a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Results: A total of 400 patients were included with 220 (55 %) males and 180 (45 %) females, and a mean age (+/- SD) of 36.34 + 16.47 years. The most common presenting symptoms were: sore throat 159 (39.8 %), cough 158 (39.5 %), fever 132 (33 %), headache 122 (30.5 %), and muscle ache 124 (31%). There was no difference in underlying conditions, signs and symptoms between males and females apart from the occurrence of sore throat with an OR of 2.014 (95 % CI: 1.103-3.677, P = 0.023) and need of hospitalization OR 2.457 (95 % CI: 1.168-5.167, P value =.018) in a binary logistic regression comparison. The need for hospitalization was inversely related to the number of COVID-19 vaccination doses. The rate of admission was 8 (72.7 %), 34 (12 %), 4 (5.4 %) for one, two, and three doses of COVID-19 vaccine, respectively (P < 0.0001). Of all the patients, 14 (3.5 %) and 8 (2 %) required intensive care (ICU) admission and mechanical ventilation, respectively. The median Ct-value of SARS-CoV-2 was higher in those who had 2 or 3 doses compared to those who had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. None of the included patients died during the study period.

Conclusion: Omicron variant symptoms among infected patients are generally milder compared to other variants. Prior COVID-19 vaccination may limit disease severity and need for hospitalization.

Keywords: COVID-19; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2; Saudi Arabia; Third wave; Vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest All authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
A Boxplot of the Ct-values of SARS-CoV-2 rt-PCR in relation to the number of doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Kaplan Meier survival carve depicting the time in days from last vaccination dose to the following infection for males and females.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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