Differences between SARS-CoV-2 pandemic first and second waves: survey on hospitalized CoViD-19 patients

ABSTRACT

Background and Aim: The CoViD-19 pandemic experienced two main waves February-June 2020 and October 2020-February 2021 respectively. The F. Miulli Hospital has activated intensive and semi-intensive care, pulmonology and infectious disease departments, for a total of 240 beds. Aim of the study was to evaluate differences between the two waves, in relation to the length of hospitalization and mortality. Materials and Methods: We collected data from 1005 subjects (619 men). Age, gender, length of hospital stay, and deaths were analyzed. Results: In the second wave we found a higher percentage of deaths (25.8 vs 19.4%;p=0.043) and among these a higher prevalence of males (66 vs 44.7%;p=0.007);furthermore, in the subjects hospitalized during the second wave, we observed a lower average age of the deceased (78±13 vs 82±8 years;p=0.019) and a shorter duration of hospitalization (18±13 vs 21±14 days;p=0.004). No significant difference was observed in the prevalence of males, however most affected (62.4% second wave vs 59.1% first wave), and in mean age (69±15 seconds vs 68±18 first wave). Conclusions: The second wave showed greater lethality especially for males and younger subjects. Despite this, the duration of hospitalization was shorter, a condition probably linked to the experience acquired by the health professionals involved in the assistance and to a wider network of local structures capable of welcoming CoViD patients. The impact of the variants on the severity of the disease remains to be assessed.