Delay-Adjusted Age-Specific COVID-19 Case Fatality Rates in a High Testing Setting: South Korea, February 2020 to February 2021

Abstract

In South Korea, a country with a high coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) testing rate, a total of 87,324 COVID-19 cases, including 1562 deaths, have been recorded as of 23 February 2021. This study assessed the delay-adjusted COVID-19 case fatality risk (CFR), including data from the second and third waves. A statistical method was applied to the data from 20 February 2021 through 23 February 2021 to minimize bias in the crude CFR, accounting for the survival interval as the lag time between disease onset and death. The resulting overall delay-adjusted CFR was 1.97% (95% credible interval: 1.94–2.00%). The delay-adjusted CFR was highest among adults aged ≥80 years and 70–79 years (22.88% and 7.09%, respectively). The cumulative incidence rate was highest among individuals aged ≥80 years and 60–69 years. The cumulative mortality rate was highest among individuals aged ≥80 years and 70–79 years (47 and 12 per million, respectively). In South Korea, older adults are being disproportionately affected by COVID-19 with a high death rate, although the incidence rate among younger individuals is relatively high. Interventions to prevent COVID-19 should target older adults to minimize the number of deaths.

Epidemiological Predictive Modeling of COVID-19 Infection: Development, Testing, and Implementation on the Population of the Benelux Union

“…In order to account for the delay with respect to the duration from the onset of infection to death, we have used adapted CFR (case fatality rate) based on definition from Shim (70).…”

“…As a result of the time lag between infection and death, the CFR is skewed, a phenomenon known as right censoring (71). Statistical methods have been used to estimate the delay-adjusted CFR (70). The factor of adjustment, u t , has been defined as…”

Effective vaccination strategy using graph neural network ansatz

“…Such a situation wherein the nodes of a network possess distinctive characteristics is relevant in real-world epidemics. For instance, the case fatality rate of COVID-19 varies significantly according to age [42][43][44][45][46][47][48]; hence, it is not trivial to determine whether senior population with high fatality rate or young population with high contact rate should be vaccinated first to minimize the epidemic mortality [49]. The age dependent efficacy and probability of severe reaction to vaccines further complicates the issue [50,51].…”

The Risk Factors of COVID-19 Infection and Mortality among Older Adults in South Korea

“…However, that study had limitations owing to its relatively small sample size. 7) The COVID-19 pandemic has majorly impacted global health, particularly among older adults who are more vulnerable to severe illness and mortality. 5,6) Understanding the risk factors associated with COVID-19 infection and mortality in this population is crucial for effective prevention and management strategies.…”