Development of an Index to Assess COVID-19 Hospital Care Installed Capacity in the 450 Brazilian Health Regions.

OBJECTIVE: The article seeks to assess the Brazilian health system ability to respond to the challenges imposed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic by measuring the capacity of Brazilian hospitals to care for COVID-19 cases in the 450 Health Regions of the country during the year 2020. Hospital capacity refers to the availability of hospital beds, equipment, and human resources. METHODS: We used longitudinal data from the National Register of Health Facilities (CNES) regarding the availability of resources necessary to care for patients with COVID-19 in inpatient facilities (public or private) from January to December 2020. Among the assessed resources are health professionals (certified nursing assistants, nurses, physical therapists, and doctors), hospital beds (clinical, intermediate care, and intensive care units), and medical equipment (computed tomography scanners, defibrillators, electrocardiograph monitors, ventilators, and resuscitators). In addition to conducting a descriptive analysis of absolute and relative data (per 10,000 users), a synthetic indicator named Installed Capacity Index (ICI) was calculated using the multivariate principal component analysis technique to assess hospital capacity. The indicator was further stratified into value ranges to understand its evolution. RESULTS: There was an increase in all selected indicators between January and December 2020. It was possible to observe differences between the Northeast and North regions and the other regions of the country; most Health Regions presented low ICI. The ICI increased between the beginning and the end of 2020, but this evolution differed among Health Regions. The average increase in the ICI was more evident in the groups that already had considerably high baseline capacity in January 2020. CONCLUSIONS: It was possible to identify inequalities in the hospital capacity to care for patients affected by COVID -19 in the Health Regions of Brazil, with a concentration of low index values in the Northeast and North of the country. As the indicator increased throughout the year 2020, inequalities were also observed. The information here provided may be used by health authorities, providers, and managers in planning and adjusting for future COVID-19 care and in dimensioning the adequate supply of hospital beds, health-care professionals, and devices in Health Regions to reduce associated morbidity and mortality. We recommend that the ICI continue to be calculated in the coming months of the pandemic to monitor the capacity in the country's Health Regions.

Covid-19: temporal evolution and immunization in the three epidemiological waves, Brazil, 2020-2022.

OBJECTIVE: Describe the temporal evolution of morbimortality due to Covid-19 and vaccination coverage during the health emergency in Brazil. METHODS: Number of cases and deaths due to Covid-19 were extracted from the public panel of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, according to epidemiological week (EW) and geographic region. Data on vaccines and variants were obtained, respectively, from the Information System of the National Immunization Program and the Genomic Surveillance System of SARS-CoV-2. RESULTS: Three peaks of deaths characterized the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic: in EW 30 of 2020, in the EW 14 of 2021 and in the EW six of 2022; three case waves, starting in the North and Northeast regions, with higher rates in the third wave, mainly in the South region. Vaccination started in the epidemiological week three of 2021, rapidly reaching most of the population, particularly in the Southeast and South regions, coinciding with a reduction exclusively in the mortality rate in the third wave. Only from the beginning of the second wave, when Gama was the dominant variant, 146,718 genomes were sequenced. From the last EW of 2021, with vaccination coverage already approaching 70%, the Omicron variant caused an avalanche of cases, but with fewer deaths. CONCLUSIONS: We noticed the presence of three waves of Covid-19, as well as the effect of immunization on the reduction of mortality in the second and third waves, attributed to the Delta and Omicron variants, respectively. However, the reduction of morbidity, which peaked in the third wave during the domination of the Omicron variant, remained the same. The national and centralized command of the pandemic confrontation did not occur; thus, public administrators took the lead in their territories. The overwhelming effect of the pandemic could have been minimized, if there had been a coordinated participation of three spheres of the Brazilian Unified Health System administration, in the joint governance of the pandemic fight.

COVID-19 as the leading cause of hospital deaths in the Brazilian public health system in 2020.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the profile of hospital deaths in Brazil according to cause of admission during the pre-pandemic (2019) and pandemic periods (2020). METHODS: Descriptive study based on individual-level records of all hospital admissions with death outcomes reimbursed by the Brazilian National Health System in 2019 and 2020. RESULTS: The number of hospital deaths increased by 16.7% in 2020 compared with 2019 (522,686 vs 609,755). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was associated with 19.5% (118,879) of all hospital deaths in 2020, surpassing diseases of the circulatory system (15.4%, 93,735) and diseases of the respiratory system (14.9%, 91,035). CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 was the main cause of death in public hospitals in Brazil in 2020.

Trends in COVID-19 case-fatality rates in Brazilian public hospitals: A longitudinal cohort of 398,063 hospital admissions from 1st March to 3rd October 2020.

BACKGROUND: Almost 200,000 deaths from COVID-19 were reported in Brazil in 2020. The case fatality rate of a new infectious disease can vary by different risk factors and over time. We analysed the trends and associated factors of COVID-19 case fatality rates in Brazilian public hospital admissions during the first wave of the pandemic. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of all COVID-19-related admissions between epidemiological weeks 10-40 in the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) was delimited from available reimbursement records. Smoothing time series and survival analyses were conducted to evaluate the trends of hospital case fatality rates (CFR) and the probability of death according to factors such as sex, age, ethnicity, comorbidities, length of stay and ICU use. RESULTS: With 398,063 admissions and 86,452 (21.7%) deaths, the overall age-standardized hospital CFR trend decreased throughout the period, varying from 31.8% (95%CI: 31.2 to 32.5%) in week 10 to 18.2% (95%CI: 17.6 to 18.8%) in week 40. This decreasing trend was observed in all sex, age, ethnic groups, length of stay and ICU admissions. Consistently, later admission (from July to September) was an independent protective factor. Patients 80+ year old had a hazard ratio of 8.18 (95% CI: 7.51 to 8.91). Ethnicity, comorbidities, and ICU need were also associated with the death risk. Although also decreasing, the CFR was always around 40-50% in people who needed an ICU admission. CONCLUSIONS: The overall hospital CFR of COVID-19 has decreased in Brazilian public hospitals during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. Nevertheless, during the entire period, the CFR was still very high, suggesting the need for improving COVID-19 hospital care in Brazil.

Direct from the COVID-19 crisis: research and innovation sparks in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread throughout more than 160 countries, infecting millions of people worldwide. To address this health emergency, countries have organized the flow of production and innovation to reduce the impact on health. This article shows the response of the Brazilian scientific community to meet the urgent needs of the public unified health system [SUS], aiming to guarantee universal access to an estimated population of 211 million. By December 2020, Brazil had recorded more than six million cases and approximately 175,000 deaths. METHODS: We collected data on research, development and innovation projects carried out by 114 public universities (plus Oswaldo Cruz Foundation [Fiocruz] and Butantan Institute), as reported on their websites. Additionally, we examined the studies on COVID-19 approved by the National Comission for Research Ethics, as well as those reported on the Ministry of Education website as of May 15, 2020. RESULTS: The 789 identified projects were classified according to research categories as follows: development and innovation (n = 280), other types of projects (n = 226), epidemiologic research (n = 211), and basic research on disease mechanisms (n = 72). Most proposals focused on the development and innovation of personal protective equipment, medical devices, diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines, which were rapidly identified as research priorities by the scientific community. Some promising results have been observed from phase III vaccine trials, one of which is conducted in partnership with Oxford University and another of which is performed with Sinovac Biotech. Both trials involve thousands of volunteers in their Brazilian arms and include technology transfer agreements with Fiocruz and the Butantan Institute, respectively. These vaccines proved to be safe and effective and were immediately licensed for emergency use. The provision of doses for the public health system, and vaccination, started on January 17, 2021. CONCLUSIONS: The mobilized Brazilian scientific community has generated comprehensive research, development and innovation proposals to meet the most urgent needs. It is important to emphasize that this response was only possible due to decades of investment in research, development and innovation in Brazil. We need to reinforce and protect the Brazilian science, technology and innovation system from austerity policies that disregard health and knowledge as crucial investments for Brazilian society, in line with the constitutional right of universal health access and universal health coverage.

Covid-19: temporal evolution and immunization in the three epidemiological waves, Brazil, 2020-2022.

OBJECTIVE: Describe the temporal evolution of morbimortality due to Covid-19 and vaccination coverage during the health emergency in Brazil. METHODS: Number of cases and deaths due to Covid-19 were extracted from the public panel of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, according to epidemiological week (EW) and geographic region. Data on vaccines and variants were obtained, respectively, from the Information System of the National Immunization Program and the Genomic Surveillance System of SARS-CoV-2. RESULTS: Three peaks of deaths characterized the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic: in EW 30 of 2020, in the EW 14 of 2021 and in the EW six of 2022; three case waves, starting in the North and Northeast regions, with higher rates in the third wave, mainly in the South region. Vaccination started in the epidemiological week three of 2021, rapidly reaching most of the population, particularly in the Southeast and South regions, coinciding with a reduction exclusively in the mortality rate in the third wave. Only from the beginning of the second wave, when Gama was the dominant variant, 146,718 genomes were sequenced. From the last EW of 2021, with vaccination coverage already approaching 70%, the Omicron variant caused an avalanche of cases, but with fewer deaths. CONCLUSIONS: We noticed the presence of three waves of Covid-19, as well as the effect of immunization on the reduction of mortality in the second and third waves, attributed to the Delta and Omicron variants, respectively. However, the reduction of morbidity, which peaked in the third wave during the domination of the Omicron variant, remained the same. The national and centralized command of the pandemic confrontation did not occur; thus, public administrators took the lead in their territories. The overwhelming effect of the pandemic could have been minimized, if there had been a coordinated participation of three spheres of the Brazilian Unified Health System administration, in the joint governance of the pandemic fight.