June 4, 2021

Variant-of-Concern-Attributable Health and Health System-Related Outcomes a Population-Level Propensity-Score Matched Cohort Study

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Public Health Policy and Practice

Keywords (Tags): clinical characteristics, transmission, variants

• [Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A population-based propensity-score matched cohort study of all incident laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ontario, Canada found that SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern are associated with a higher odds of hospitalization (OR=2.3), ICU admission (OR=3.3), and mortality among persons hospitalized (OR=1.6) and not hospitalized (OR=1.8) for COVID-19 relative to earlier wild-type strains. The findings are consistent with previously published data suggesting a higher mortality among persons infected with B.1.1.7 (Alpha) and highlight the additional impact of these variants on utilization of healthcare resources. The authors suggest that the current and future phase of the pandemic, in which variants comprise a higher proportion of COVID-19 cases, will result in higher demand on health systems until widespread vaccination can be achieved. 

Erman et al. (June 3, 2021). Variant-of-Concern-Attributable Health and Health System-Related Outcomes a Population-Level Propensity-Score Matched Cohort Study. Pre-print downloaded Jun 4 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.02.21257869