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Observational Study
. 2024 Jul 31;16(8):1233.
doi: 10.3390/v16081233.

Clinical-Epidemiological Profile of COVID-19 Patients Admitted during Three Waves of the Pandemic in a Tertiary Care Center, in Belém, Pará, Amazon Region of Brazil

Ana Beatriz Nunes Pereira  1   2 , Fernando Sérgio Henriques Pereira  3 , Júlio Éden Davi Lopes Araújo  3 , Rangel Pereira Brasil  3 , Angélica Menezes Bessa Oliveira  3 , Sandra Souza Lima  2 , Ricardo Roberto de Souza Fonseca  2 , Rogério Valois Laurentino  2 , Aldemir Branco Oliveira-Filho  4 , Luiz Fernando Almeida Machado  1   2
Affiliations
Observational Study

Clinical-Epidemiological Profile of COVID-19 Patients Admitted during Three Waves of the Pandemic in a Tertiary Care Center, in Belém, Pará, Amazon Region of Brazil

Ana Beatriz Nunes Pereira et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a disease with a broad clinical spectrum, which may result in hospitalization in healthcare units, intensive care, and progression to death. This study aimed to describe and compare the clinical and epidemiological profile of COVID-19 during the three waves of the disease, in patients admitted to a public hospital in the city of Belém, Pará, in the Amazon region of Brazil.

Methods: This descriptive, observational, and cross-sectional study was population-based on individuals who were hospitalized with a diagnosis of COVID-19, confirmed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and who were interviewed and monitored at the public hospital, from February 2020 to April 2022.

Results: The prevalence was male patients, older than 60 years. The most frequent symptoms were dyspnea, cough, and fever. Systemic arterial hypertension was the most prevalent comorbidity followed by diabetes mellitus. Less than 15% of patients were vaccinated. The nasal oxygen cannula was the most used oxygen therapy interface followed by the non-rebreathing reservoir mask. Invasive mechanical ventilation predominated and the median time of invasive mechanical ventilation ranged from 2 to 6 days among waves. As for the hospital outcome, transfers prevailed, followed by deaths and discharges.

Conclusion: The presence of comorbidities, advanced age, and male sex were important factors in the severity and need for hospitalization of these patients, and the implementation of the vaccination policy was an essential factor in reducing the number of hospital admissions.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; epidemiology of opportunistic viral infections; new coronavirus including SARS-CoV-2; patient outcome assessments.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Clinical information on the time of invasive mechanical ventilation of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at the public hospital in Belém, Pará, Brazil, from February 2020 to April 2022. a Median and interquartile range; * Significant difference in invasive mechanical ventilation time between Waves 1 and 2 (p < 0.0500); + Significant difference in invasive mechanical ventilation time between Waves 2 and 3 (p < 0.0500).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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