COVID-19 versus Seasonal Influenza: Comparison of Profiles of Older Adults Hospitalized in a Short-Term Geriatric Ward in France

Abstract

The objective was to compare the profile and outcomes of older adults admitted to a geriatric short-stay unit for COVID-19, to those of older adults admitted to the same unit for seasonal influenza infection. This was an observational study performed in a General Hospital in France. Patients ≥ 70 years admitted to a geriatric short-stay unit for COVID-19 between March 18 and November 15, 2020 were included. They were compared with patients of the same age group, admitted to the same geriatric short-stay unit for seasonal influenza infection over the periods January to March 2019 and January to March 2020. Data collection included demographic information, medical history, clinical signs and symptoms, outcomes, and hospital discharge patterns. Descriptive and intergroup comparison analyses were performed. In total, 153 patients were included in the study, 82 in the seasonal influenza group, and 71 in the COVID-19 group. The average age was 87.6 ± 4.8 and 87.6 ± 6.5 years in the COVID-19 and seasonal influenza groups, respectively. There was no difference between groups regarding the Charlson comorbidity index (3.4 ± 3.0 versus 3.4 ± 2.8). The seasonal influenza group more often had fever, cough, sputum, and renal failure, whereas the COVID-19 group more often experienced diarrhea, and death. The COVID-19 group was frequently living in collective housing. The profile at admission of older adults hospitalized for COVID-19 or seasonal influenza infection was similar. Although fever and respiratory signs were less common in the COVID-19 group, these patients experienced more complications (such as renal failure or oxygen therapy requirement) and higher mortality.

Inflammasome activation and pulmonary viral loads define two distinct clinical outcomes in COVID-19

“…Although SARS-CoV-2 and influenza share many similarities, including the transmission, replication, and induction of similar clinical outcomes in humans, COVID-19 can be significantly more severe in nonvaccinated individuals [45][46][47][48] . The mechanisms underlying these differences are unknown, and the revelation that exacerbated inflammasome activation mediates COVID-19 pathology 13,14,16 has led to comparisons of inflammasome activation in COVID-19 patients with other pulmonary viral diseases.…”

Ativação do inflamassoma: a importância na leishmaniose, na influenza e na COVID-19

“…Esses achados apoiam a hipótese de que a ativação do inflamassoma ocorre sistemicamente em pacientes com COVID-19 e pode estar associada à falência de múltiplos órgãos e altas taxas de mortalidade. (Manzanares-Meza and Medina-Contreras, 2020;Godaert et al, 2021;Fröhlich et al, 2022;Taniguchi et al, 2022). Os mecanismos que levam a essas diferenças são desconhecidos, e a informação de que a ativação exacerbada do inflamassoma medeia a patologia do COVID-19 (Rodrigues et al, 2021;Junqueira et al, 2022;Sefik et al, 2022) nos levou a comparar a ativação do inflamassoma em pacientes com COVID-19 com outras doenças virais pulmonares.…”

“…SARS-CoV-2 é similar ao vírus da influenza em vários aspectos, como transmissão, ser um vírus de RNA e sintomas clínicos semelhantes em humanos(Manzanares-Meza and Medina-Contreras, 2020). Apesar disto, o COVID-19 pode ser significativamente mais grave em indivíduos não vacinados(Manzanares-Meza and Medina-Contreras, 2020;Godaert et al, 2021; Fröhlich et al, 2022;Taniguchi et al, 2022) e os mecanismos envolvidos neste processo não são conhecidos. Trabalhos publicados anteriormente mostraram que a ativação exacerbada do inflamassoma medeia a patologia do COVID-19(Rodrigues et al, 2021;Junqueira et al, 2022;Sefik et al, 2022), isso nos levou a comparar a ativação do inflamassoma em pacientes com COVID-19 com influenza.…”