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
. 2024 Apr;15(2):509-517.
doi: 10.1007/s41999-023-00902-x. Epub 2024 Jan 5.

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and risk of infectious diseases in hospitalized older patients

Marco Balducci #  1   2 , Edoardo Locatelli #  1   2 , Maria Giorgia Barbieri  1   2 , Elena Ferrighi  1   2 , Serena Scardina  1   2 , Giulia Barrile  1   2 , Federica Sganga  2 , Irene Mattioli  1   2 , Francesca Remelli  3 , Stefania Maggi  4 , Stefano Volpato  1   2 , Caterina Trevisan  1   2   5
Affiliations

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and risk of infectious diseases in hospitalized older patients

Marco Balducci et al. Eur Geriatr Med. 2024 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: Vaccinations, for example flu vaccine, may be a cause of cross-reactive immunostimulation that prevents a larger spectrum of infections. However, whether SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations may also determine this effect is unclear. This study aims, first, to assess the incidence of infections at hospital admission and during the hospitalization in older inpatients vaccinated and unvaccinated against SARS-CoV-2; second, to compare length of hospital stay and in-hospital mortality between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.

Methods: This retrospective study included 754 older inpatients admitted to the Geriatrics and Orthogeriatrics Units of the University Hospital of Ferrara (Italy) between March 2021 and November 2021. Sociodemographic and health-related data, and the diagnosis of infections at hospital admission and during hospitalization were collected from medical records.

Results: The sample's mean age was 87.2 years, 59.2% were females, and 75.5% were vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. Vaccinated individuals had 36% lower odds of intra-hospital infections (OR = 0.64, 95%CI 0.44-0.94) and 39% lower in-hospital death (HR = 0.61, 95%CI 0.39-0.95), also after adjusting for potential confounders, while no significant results emerged about infections at hospital admission. Considering the hospitalization's endpoints, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was associated with a lower probability of being transferred to long-term care or other hospital departments than returning home (OR = 0.63, 95%CI 0.40-0.99).

Conclusions: In older inpatients, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination seems to be associated with a lower likelihood of intra-hospital infectious diseases not caused by SARS-CoV-2 and all-cause in-hospital mortality. The vaccination coverage in the older population could limit not only the onset and severity of COVID-19 but also the occurrence of other infectious diseases.

Keywords: Aged; Hospitalization; Intra-hospital infections; Mortality; SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Goto T, Yoshida K, Tsugawa Y, Camargo CA, Hasegawa K (2016) Infectious disease-related emergency department visits of elderly adults in the United States, 2011–2012. J Am Geriatr Soc 64:31–36. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.13836 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Levant S, Chari K, DeFrances CJ (2015) Hospitalizations for patients aged 85 and over in the United States, 2000–2010. NCHS Data Brief 1–8
    1. Curns AT, Steiner CA, Sejvar JJ, Schonberger LB (2008) Hospital charges attributable to a primary diagnosis of infectious diseases in older adults in the United States, 1998 to 2004. J Am Geriatr Soc 56:969–975. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2008.01712.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Liang SY (2016) Sepsis and other infectious disease emergencies in the elderly. Emerg Med Clin North Am 34:501–522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emc.2016.04.005 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Alves VP, Casemiro FG, Araujo BG de, Lima MA de S, Oliveira RS de, Fernandes FT de S, et al. (2021) Factors associated with mortality among elderly people in the COVID-19 pandemic (SARS-CoV-2): a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18:8008. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18158008

Substances

LinkOut - more resources