ABSTRACT
Battling the COVID-19 pandemic still is the main agenda of many countries in the world today. This study aims to describe the clinical characteristics of COVID-19-related deaths in Malaysia in 2020. Data was obtained from the daily press conference on the COVID-19 situation in Malaysia. Only information on daily deaths were collected for the purpose of this study. A total of 471 COVID-19 deaths reported in Malaysia in 2020. Number of deaths reported for the age categories < 65 years old and ≥ 65 years old were almost equal. Majority of deaths were reported among male (66.2%), Malaysian (82.8%), from the state of Sabah (56.3%) and with comorbidities (75.4%). Commonly reported comorbidities were hypertension (53.1%), diabetes mellitus (37.6%) and heart disease (17.4%). Gout was more prevalent and attributed to significant rate of mortality in individuals ≥ 65 years old (6.1%;p = 0.011), whereas obesity (5.8%;p = 0.003) and asthma (4.5%;p = 0.040) were more prevalent and attributed to significant rate of mortality in individuals < 65 years old. Heart disease was more prevalent among males (n = 64, 20.5%;p = 0.013) and obesity was more prevalent among women (n = 11, 6.9%;p = 0.003). Furthermore, presence of comorbidities was significantly higher in Malaysians (p < 0.001) with two and more comorbidities (p = 0.007). Early detection of risk factors for critical conditions is urgently required to provide adequate supportive treatment.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The year 2020 saw the emergence of novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which became a great threat to public health worldwide. The exponential spread of the disease with millions of lives lost worldwide saw the emergence of an accelerated vaccine development with emergency approval from well-known regulatory bodies such as the US Food and Drug Administration, followed by widespread vaccine deployment despite a paucity in safety profile data. This issue becomes even more pronounced when it involves expectant mothers considering the possible undesirable effect toward the unborn child. Method: This was a retrospective cohort study which was conducted at six general hospitals in the state of Penang, Malaysia. All the pregnant employees who have consented to take the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and participate in this study were monitored from the time of their first vaccination and up to 28 days after they delivered their babies. Results: All the participants had adequate maximum vertical pocket (MVP) and no obvious anomalies or detection of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) were detected during the second trimester. However, one subject was reported to have miscarried during the second trimester. The reported mean neonate birth weight was 3.0 kg with the mean Apgar score of 8.8 and 9.8 at 1 and 5 min, respectively. Approximately seven (5.8%) neonates were reported to be small for their gestational age. Another three (2.5%) neonates were reported to have anomalies. Conclusion: As a whole, the inference that can be made from this study is that mRNA COVID-19 vaccine appears to be safe in pregnant women regardless of the trimester as the findings did not show obvious safety warning signs.