The following is a summary of “Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal viruses among 2 million adults hospitalized for severe acute respiratory infection during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil,” published in the May 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Diniz et al.

COVID-19’s emergence significantly altered the spread of typical seasonal respiratory viruses.

Researchers started a retrospective study investigating how adults hospitalized with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) during COVID-19 fared with SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to seasonal viruses.

They conducted a population-based cohort study involving individuals over 18 admitted for SARI in Brazil (February 2020 to February 2023). The main focus was on in-hospital death, and competing risk analysis was employed to accommodate other concurrent events.

The results showed that of 2,159,171 patients, SARS-CoV-2 was the primary virus identified (98.7%). The cumulative incidence of in-hospital death stood at 33.1%, 31.5%, 21.0%, 18.7%, and 18.6% for SARS-CoV-2, adenovirus, RSV, influenza, and other viruses, respectively. SARS-CoV-2 contributed to 99.3% of the fatalities. Older age, male gender, comorbidities, hospitalization in the northern region, and oxygen saturation below 95% were common risk indicators for mortality across all viruses.

In this large cohort study, individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 or adenovirus had the highest risk of mortality. Irrespective of the virus type, older age, male sex, comorbidities, hospitalization in vulnerable regions, and low oxygen saturation were associated with an increased risk of fatality.

Source: academic.oup.com/jid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/infdis/jiae295/7685988