Decreased Case Fatality Rate of COVID‐19 in the Second Wave: A study in 53 countries or regions

Abstract

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused a serious health threat globally. Many countries have seen a two-wave pattern of reported cases, namely a second wave followed the first wave. To our knowledge, there are no studies to date to compare the case fatality rate between these two waves (Figure 1).

Characteristics and outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients during the first 28 days of the spring and autumn pandemic waves in Milan: An observational prospective study

“…The availability of important results regarding randomized clinical trials and observational studies caused a progressive change in the treatment paradigm in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Differently to what was reported in other studies performed in Japan and China [ 14 , 15 ], we did not observe a younger population during the second wave, and, except for asthma, the prevalence of comorbidities, especially cardiovascular ones, were comparable. We thus hypothesize that a higher social awareness, a better preparedness of COVID-19 hub hospitals and a reduction in time to diagnosis due to rapid NFS processing [ 15 ] during the 2nd pandemic wave resulted in a faster patients’ referral to the emergency department in case of suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection and worsening symptoms, anticipating clinical monitoring and the management of disease-related complications.…”

“…Differently to what was reported in other studies performed in Japan and China [ 14 , 15 ], we did not observe a younger population during the second wave, and, except for asthma, the prevalence of comorbidities, especially cardiovascular ones, were comparable. We thus hypothesize that a higher social awareness, a better preparedness of COVID-19 hub hospitals and a reduction in time to diagnosis due to rapid NFS processing [ 15 ] during the 2nd pandemic wave resulted in a faster patients’ referral to the emergency department in case of suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection and worsening symptoms, anticipating clinical monitoring and the management of disease-related complications. Less advanced disease stages, a lower number of patients with severe aRF at admission and an increased proportion of patients treated with anticoagulant therapy may have thus contributed to decreased mortality [ 14 , 15 ].…”

“…We thus hypothesize that a higher social awareness, a better preparedness of COVID-19 hub hospitals and a reduction in time to diagnosis due to rapid NFS processing [ 15 ] during the 2nd pandemic wave resulted in a faster patients’ referral to the emergency department in case of suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection and worsening symptoms, anticipating clinical monitoring and the management of disease-related complications. Less advanced disease stages, a lower number of patients with severe aRF at admission and an increased proportion of patients treated with anticoagulant therapy may have thus contributed to decreased mortality [ 14 , 15 ]. In fact, PaO2/FiO2<200 mmHg [ 10 ] and D-dimer >2.000 FEU [ 12 ] were demonstrated to be independent risk factors for adverse outcomes, while the increased use of systemic corticosteroids [ 6 , 7 , 14 ] and anticoagulation [ 13 , 14 ] showed a reduction in mortality in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia.…”

A Multi-Center Retrospective Study of Clinical features, Laboratory Characteristics, and Outcomes of 325&nbsp;&nbsp;Hospitalized Children with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19); A Preliminary Report from Iranian Network for Research in Viral Diseases (INRVD)

“…children. Lastly, at the time of the preparation of this article, Iran still has been located at the top of the list of countries with a proportional high raw case fatality rate (CFR) in the world [34]. Although the true CFR ratio might not have known for some time, the estimated CFR among medically attended Iranian patients has been reported to be approximately 2% [35].…”

Covid-19 pandemic: A new contributing factor to diagnostic and treatment delay in oral cancer patients

“…Current policies (lockdowns, mobility restrictions, social distancing, contact-tracing, and massive testing), along with self-protective, hygienic measures have failed to control SARS-CoV-2 transmission, as proven by new contagion peaks. However, this contemporary second COVID-19 wave seems to affect younger patients, with less co-morbidities, resulting in a decreased case fatality rate [10] . This new epidemiological context, with vaccination of risk patients, should also be taken into account when using the current guidelines and assessing patients individually.…”