RESUMEN
The risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfections changes as new variants emerge, but the follow-up time for most of the available evidence is shorter than two years. This study evaluated SARS-CoV-2 reinfection rates in the total population of an Italian province up to three years since the pandemic's start. This retrospective cohort study used official National Healthcare System data on SARS-CoV-2 testing and vaccinations, demographics, and hospitalizations in the Province of Pescara, Italy, from 2 March 2020 to 31 December 2022. A total of 6541 (5.4%) reinfections and 33 severe and 18 lethal COVID-19 cases were recorded among the 121,412 subjects who recovered from a primary infection. There were no severe events following reinfection in the young population, whereas 1.1% of reinfected elderly died. A significantly higher reinfection risk was observed among females; unvaccinated individuals; adults (30-59 y); and subjects with hypertension, COPD, and kidney disease. Up to three years after a primary SARS-CoV-2 infection, the majority of the population did not experience a reinfection. The risk of severe COVID-19 following a reinfection was very low for young and adult individuals but still high for the elderly. The subjects with hybrid immunity showed a lower reinfection risk than the unvaccinated.
RESUMEN
In this cohort study, the general population of an Italian Province was followed for three years after the start of the pandemic, in order to identify the predictors of SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe or lethal COVID-19. All the National Healthcare System information on biographical records, vaccinations, SARS-CoV-2 swabs, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and co-pay exemptions were extracted from 25 February 2020 to 15 February 2023. Cox proportional hazard analysis was used to compute the relative hazards of infection and severe or lethal COVID-19, adjusting for age, gender, vaccine status, hypertension, diabetes, major cardiovascular diseases (CVD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), kidney disease or cancer. Among the 300,079 residents or domiciled citizens, 41.5% had ≥1 positive swabs during the follow-up (which lasted a mean of 932 days). A total of 3.67% of the infected individuals experienced severe COVID-19 (n = 4574) and 1.76% died (n = 2190). Females, the elderly and subjects with diabetes, CVD, COPD, kidney disease and cancer showed a significantly higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The likelihood of severe or lethal COVID-19 was >90% lower among the youngest, and all comorbidities were independently associated with a higher risk (ranging from +28% to +214%) of both outcomes. Two years after the start of the immunization campaign, the individuals who received ≥2 doses of COVID-19 vaccines still showed a significantly lower likelihood of severe or lethal disease, with the lowest risk observed among subjects who received at least one booster dose.
RESUMEN
We carried out a cohort study on the overall population of the province of Pescara, Italy, to assess the real-world effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination against infection, severe, or lethal COVID-19, two years after the start of the vaccination campaign. We included all the resident or domiciled subjects, and extracted the official demographic, vaccination, COVID-19, hospital and co-pay exemption datasets from 1 January 2021, up to 15 February 2023. Cox proportional hazards analyses were adjusted for gender, age, diabetes, hypertension, COPD, major cardio- and cerebrovascular events, cancer, and kidney diseases. Throughout the follow-up (466 days on average), 186,676 subjects received greater than or equal to three vaccine doses (of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, BNT162b2, mRNA-1273, NVX-CoV2373, or JNJ-78436735), 47,610 two doses, 11,452 one dose, and 44,989 none. Overall, 40.4% of subjects were infected with SARS-CoV-2. Of them, 2.74% had severe or lethal (1.30%) COVID-19. As compared to the unvaccinated, the individuals who received greater than or equal to one booster dose showed a ≥85% lower risk of severe or lethal COVID-19. A massive impact of vaccination was found among the elderly: 22.0% of the unvaccinated, infected individuals died, as opposed to less than 3% of those who received greater than or equal to three vaccine doses. No protection against infection was observed, although this finding was certainly influenced by the Italian restriction policies to control the pandemic. Importantly, during the Omicron predominance period, only the group who received at least a booster dose showed a reduced risk of COVID-19-related death.
RESUMEN
This cohort study on the entire population of an Italian Province assessed the incidence of potentially vaccine-related serious adverse events (PVR-SAEs) by COVID-19 vaccination status. From January 2021 to July 2022, we extracted all deaths and hospitalizations due to several cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary embolism, and deep vein thrombosis from National Healthcare System official data. During the follow-up, 5743 individuals died, and 2097 were hospitalized for PVR-SAEs. Vaccinated subjects (n = 259,821) did not show an increased risk of all-cause death, non-COVID death, or any PVR-SAEs, as compared to the unvaccinated (n = 56,494). These results were consistent across genders, age-classes, vaccine types, and SARS-CoV-2 infection status and did not vary in Cox models adjusting for age, gender, SARS-CoV-2 infection, and selected comorbidities. In the infected population, any dose of vaccine was associated with a lower likelihood of death and PVR-SAE. In the uninfected population, subjects who received one or two doses showed a significantly higher incidence of most outcomes, likely due to a large selection bias introduced by the Italian restriction policies targeting uninfected subjects who received less than three doses. In conclusion, COVID-19 vaccination was not associated with an increase of mortality or selected PVR-SAEs incidence. Further research is warranted to evaluate the long-term safety of COVID-19 vaccines.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Gram-negative Multi-Drug-Resistant Organisms (GNMDROs) cause an increasing burden of disease in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). We deployed a multifaceted intervention to control selection and transmission of GNMDROs and to estimate at which rate GNMDROs would decline with our interventional bundle. METHODS: Interventions implemented in 2015: in-ward Antimicrobial-Stewardship-Program for appropriate management of antimicrobial prescription; infection monitoring with nasal/rectal swabs and repeated procalcitonin assays; 24 h microbiological support (since 2016); prevention of catheter-related infections, VAPs and in-ward GNMDROs transmission; education of ICU personnel. In May 2017, epidemiological, clinical and microbiological data were collected and retrospectively analyzed. Rates of resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii, as well as percentages of resistance among all Gram-negative bacteria were compared during the study period. RESULTS: Of 668 patients, at least one isolate was obtained from 399 patients. The proportions of patients with infection and with Gram-negative isolates were even across the 5 semesters (p = 0.8). For Klebsiella pneumoniae, the number of strains resistant to carbapenems fell from 94% to 6% (p < 0.001). Significant drops were also observed for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii. Percentages of resistance for all Gram-negative isolates fell from 91% to 13% (p < 0.0001). The reduction in antibiotic prescription translated in a considerable reduction of pharmacy costs. Multivariate models confirmed that the hospitalization semester was the most relevant independent predictor of resistance among Gram-negative bacteria. CONCLUSIONS: Our experience provides further evidence that a multi-faceted intervention, aimed to reduce selection and transmission of GNMDROs with efficient microbiological support, may yield remarkable results in a short time interval.
