September 28, 2020

Age-Specific COVID-19 Case-Fatality Rate: No Evidence of Changes over Time

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

Keywords (Tags): risk factors

• Using national-level surveillance data from April to August in Italy, Signorelli and Odone reported the case fatality of COVID-19 varied significantly by age (ranging from 0.1-2.8% in people <60 years up to 29-35% in people ³80 years). However, the age-specific rates were similar over time, as estimated at 2, 4 and 6 months since the onset of the epidemic. The authors conclude that the less severe COVID-19 clinical outcomes reported recently in Italy and other European sites may be due an increasing proportion of infections occurring in younger age groups.

Signorelli and Odone. (Sept 25, 2020). Age-Specific COVID-19 Case-Fatality Rate: No Evidence of Changes over Time. International Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-020-01486-0