Sudden rise in COVID-19 case fatality among young and middle-aged adults in the south of Brazil after identification of the novel B.1.1.28.1 (P.1) SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus strain

America, B.1.1.28, Brazil, Coronavirus, Health, Infection, P.1, Science, Symptoms, Testing, Transmission, Treatment, Variants

Individuals between 20 and 29 years of age whose diagnosis was made in February 2021 had an over 3-fold higher risk of death compared to those diagnosed in January 2021, while those aged 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 years experienced 93%, 110%, and 80% increases in risk of death, respectively.

Notably, the observed CFR increase coincided with the second consecutive month of declining number of diagnosed SARS-CoV-2 cases. Taken together, these preliminary findings suggest significant increases in CFR in young and middle-aged adults after identification of a novel SARS-CoV-2 strain circulating in Brazil, and this should raise public health alarms, including the need for more aggressive local and regional public health interventions and faster vaccination.

Medrxiv Preprint

 

Image by Christian Luiz from Pixabay

** This post was originally published on March 30, 2021 **