JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (Jan 2022)

Individuals With SARS-CoV-2 Infection During the First and Second Waves in Catalonia, Spain: Retrospective Observational Study Using Daily Updated Data

  • Lia Alves-Cabratosa,
  • Marc Comas-Cufí,
  • Jordi Blanch,
  • Ruth Martí-Lluch,
  • Anna Ponjoan,
  • Antoni Castro-Guardiola,
  • Abelardo Hurtado-Ganoza,
  • Ana Pérez-Jaén,
  • Maria Rexach-Fumaña,
  • Delfi Faixedas-Brunsoms,
  • Maria Angels Gispert-Ametller,
  • Anna Guell-Cargol,
  • Maria Rodriguez-Batista,
  • Ferran Santaularia-Font,
  • Ramon Orriols,
  • Marc Bonnin-Vilaplana,
  • Juan Carlos Calderón López,
  • Gladis Sabater-Talaverano,
  • Francesc Xavier Queralt Moles,
  • Sara Rodriguez-Requejo,
  • Esteve Avellana-Revuelta,
  • Elisabet Balló,
  • Ester Fages-Masmiquel,
  • Josep-Maria Sirvent,
  • Carol Lorencio,
  • Josep Miquel Morales-Pedrosa,
  • Patricia Ortiz-Ballujera,
  • Rafel Ramos

DOI
https://doi.org/10.2196/30006
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
p. e30006

Abstract

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BackgroundA description of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection comparing the first and second waves could help adapt health services to manage this highly transmissible infection. ObjectiveWe aimed to describe the epidemiology of individuals with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the characteristics of patients with a positive test comparing the first and second waves in Catalonia, Spain. MethodsThis study had 2 stages. First, we analyzed daily updated data on SARS-CoV-2 infection in individuals from Girona (Catalonia). Second, we compared 2 retrospective cohorts of patients with a positive reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction or rapid antigen test for SARS-CoV-2. The severity of patients with a positive test was defined by their admission to hospital, admission to intermediate respiratory care, admission to the intensive care unit, or death. The first wave was from March 1, 2020, to June 24, 2020, and the second wave was from June 25, 2020, to December 8, 2020. ResultsThe numbers of tests and cases were lower in the first wave than in the second wave (26,096 tests and 3140 cases in the first wave versus 140,332 tests and 11,800 cases in the second wave), but the percentage of positive results was higher in the first wave than in the second wave (12.0% versus 8.4%). Among individuals with a positive diagnostic test, 818 needed hospitalization in the first wave and 680 in the second; however, the percentage of hospitalized individuals was higher in the first wave than in the second wave (26.1% versus 5.8%). The group that was not admitted to hospital included older people and those with a higher percentage of comorbidities in the first wave, whereas the characteristics of the groups admitted to hospital were more alike. ConclusionsScreening systems for SARS-CoV-2 infection were scarce during the first wave, but were more adequate during the second wave, reflecting the usefulness of surveillance systems to detect a high number of asymptomatic infected individuals and their contacts, to help control this pandemic. The characteristics of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first and second waves differed substantially; individuals in the first wave were older and had a worse health condition.