tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Lancet Reg Health Eur
. 2022 Jan 14;100303.
doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100303. Online ahead of print.
SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in hospitals and long-term care facilities in Germany: a national observational study
Beneditta Suwono[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Annika Steffen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Birgitta Schweickert[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Viktoria Schönfeld[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Michael Brandl[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Mirco Sandfort[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Niklas Willrich[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tim Eckmanns[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sebastian Haller[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: Outbreaks of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in hospitals and long-term care facilities (LTCFs) pose serious public health threats. We analysed how frequency and size of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in hospitals and LTCFs have altered since the beginning of the pandemic, in particular since the start of the vaccination campaign.
Methods: We used mandatory notification data on SARS-CoV-2 cases in Germany and stratified by outbreak cases in hospitals and LTCFs. German vaccination coverage data were analysed. We studied the association of the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks and outbreak cases with SARS-CoV-2 cases in Germany throughout the four pandemic waves. We built also counterfactual scenarios with the first pandemic wave as the baseline.
Findings: By 21 September 2021, there were 4,147,387 SARS-CoV-2 notified cases since March 2020. About 20% of these cases were reported as being related to an outbreak, with 1% of the cases in hospitals and 4% in LTCFs. The median number of outbreak cases in the different phases was smaller (≤5) in hospitals than in LTCFs (>10). In the first and second pandemic waves, we observed strong associations in both facility types between SARS-CoV-2 outbreak cases and total number of notified SARS-CoV-2 cases. However, during the third pandemic wave we observed a decline in outbreak cases in both facility types and only a weak association between outbreak cases and all cases.
Interpretation: The vaccination campaign and non-pharmaceutical interventions have been able to protect vulnerable risk groups in hospitals and LTCFs.
Funding: No specific funding.
. 2022 Jan 14;100303.
doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100303. Online ahead of print.
SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in hospitals and long-term care facilities in Germany: a national observational study
Beneditta Suwono[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Annika Steffen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Birgitta Schweickert[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Viktoria Schönfeld[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Michael Brandl[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Mirco Sandfort[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Niklas Willrich[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tim Eckmanns[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sebastian Haller[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35043103
- PMCID: PMC8759004
- DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100303
Abstract
Background: Outbreaks of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in hospitals and long-term care facilities (LTCFs) pose serious public health threats. We analysed how frequency and size of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in hospitals and LTCFs have altered since the beginning of the pandemic, in particular since the start of the vaccination campaign.
Methods: We used mandatory notification data on SARS-CoV-2 cases in Germany and stratified by outbreak cases in hospitals and LTCFs. German vaccination coverage data were analysed. We studied the association of the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks and outbreak cases with SARS-CoV-2 cases in Germany throughout the four pandemic waves. We built also counterfactual scenarios with the first pandemic wave as the baseline.
Findings: By 21 September 2021, there were 4,147,387 SARS-CoV-2 notified cases since March 2020. About 20% of these cases were reported as being related to an outbreak, with 1% of the cases in hospitals and 4% in LTCFs. The median number of outbreak cases in the different phases was smaller (≤5) in hospitals than in LTCFs (>10). In the first and second pandemic waves, we observed strong associations in both facility types between SARS-CoV-2 outbreak cases and total number of notified SARS-CoV-2 cases. However, during the third pandemic wave we observed a decline in outbreak cases in both facility types and only a weak association between outbreak cases and all cases.
Interpretation: The vaccination campaign and non-pharmaceutical interventions have been able to protect vulnerable risk groups in hospitals and LTCFs.
Funding: No specific funding.