ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic brought countless challenges to public health and highlighted the Brazilian health system vulnerabilities in facing the emergency. In this article, we analyze data on COVID-19-related deaths in 2020-21 to show the epidemic consequences in Brazil. METHODS: The Mortality Information System and the Live Birth Information System were the primary information sources. We used population estimates in 2020-21 to calculate COVID-19 specific mortality rates by age, sex, and educational level. Considering the total number of COVID-19 deaths in 2020-21, the COVID-19 proportional mortality (%) was estimated for each age group and sex. A graph of the daily number of deaths from January 2020 to December 2021 by sex was elaborated to show the temporal evolution of COVID-19 deaths in Brazil. In addition, four indicators related to COVID-19 mortality were estimated: infant mortality rate (IMR); maternal mortality ratio (MMR); number and rate of orphans due to mother's COVID-19 death; the average number of years lost. RESULTS: The overall COVID-19 mortality rate was 14.8 (/10,000). The mortality rates increase with age and show a decreasing gradient with higher schooling. The rate among illiterate people was 38.8/10,000, three times higher than a college education. Male mortality was 31% higher than female mortality. COVID-19 deaths represented 19.1% of all deaths, with the highest proportions in the age group of 40-59 years. The average number of years lost due to COVID-19 was 19 years. The MMR due to COVID-19 was 35.7 per 100,000 live births (LB), representing 37.4% of the overall MMR. Regarding the number of orphans due to COVID-19, we estimated that 40,830 children under 18 lost their mothers during the epidemic, with an orphans' rate of 7.5/10,000 children aged 0-17 years. The IMR was 11.7 per 1000 LB, with 0.2 caused by COVID-19. The peak of COVID-19 deaths occurred in March 2021, reaching almost 4000 COVID-19 deaths per day, higher than the average number of deaths per day from all causes in 2019. CONCLUSIONS: The delay in adopting public health measures necessary to control the epidemic has exacerbated the spread of the disease, resulting in several avoidable deaths.
ABSTRACT
This article aims to present general methodological aspects of the Brazilian National Survey on Child Nutrition (ENANI-2019), from the conception of the study design to details of the data collection. This is a household-based population survey with a sample calculated at 15,000 households to identify children under five years of age, conducted in 123 municipalities in Brazil's 26 states and the Federal District. ENANI-2019 includes data on breastfeeding and dietary intake; anthropometric nutritional status of all children and their biological mothers; and nutritional status concerning the following micronutrients: iron (hemoglobin and ferritin), zinc, selenium, and vitamins A, B1, B6, B12, D, E, and folic acid of children from 6 to 59 months of age. A total of 193,212 households were visited, of which 19,951 were eligible, and 12,524 were included in the study. A total of 14,558 children were studied, of whom 13,990 (96.1%) and 13,921 (95.6%) had their body mass and length/stature measured, respectively, and 14,541 (99.9%) underwent 24-hour dietary recalls (24HR). Of the 12,598 children eligible for blood sample collection, 8,739 (69.3%) had at least one laboratory parameter measured. Data were collected from February 2019 to March 2020, when the survey was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The evidence produced by the ENANI-2019 survey can back the formulation, follow-up, and/or reorientation of food and nutrition policies such as the promotion of breastfeeding and healthy eating and the prevention and control of different forms of malnutrition.