Country-based modelling of COVID-19 case fatality rate:A multiple regression analysis

BACKGROUND The spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 outbreak worldwide has caused concern regarding the mortality rate caused by the infection.The determinants of mortality on a global scale cannot be fully understood due to lack of information.AIM To identify key factors that may explain the variability in case lethality across countries.METHODS We identified 21 Potential risk factors for coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)case fatality rate for all the countries with available data.We examined univariate relationships of each variable with case fatality rate(CFR),and all independent variables to identify candidate variables for our final multiple model.Multiple regression analysis technique was used to assess the strength of relationship.RESULTS The mean of COVID-19 mortality was 1.52±1.72%.There was a statistically significant inverse correlation between health expenditure,and number of computed tomography scanners per 1 million with CFR,and significant direct correlation was found between literacy,and air pollution with CFR.This final model can predict approximately 97%of the changes in CFR.CONCLUSION The current study recommends some new predictors explaining affect mortality rate.Thus,it could help decision-makers develop health policies to fight COVID-19.

SEIHCRD Model for COVID-19 Spread Scenarios,Disease Predictions and Estimates the Basic Reproduction Number,Case Fatality Rate,Hospital,and ICU Beds Requirement

We have proposed a new mathematical method,the SEIHCRD model,which has an excellent potential to predict the incidence of COVID-19 diseases.Our proposed SEIHCRD model is an extension of the SEIR model.Three-compartments have added death,hospitalized,and critical,which improves the basic understanding of disease spread and results.We have studiedCOVID-19 cases of six countries,where the impact of this disease in the highest are Brazil,India,Italy,Spain,the United Kingdom,and the United States.After estimating model parameters based on available clinical data,the modelwill propagate and forecast dynamic evolution.Themodel calculates the Basic reproduction number over time using logistic regression and the Case fatality rate based on the selected countries’age-category scenario.Themodel calculates two types of Case fatality rate one is CFR daily,and the other is total CFR.The proposed model estimates the approximate time when the disease is at its peak and the approximate time when death cases rarely occur and calculate how much hospital beds and ICU beds will be needed in the peak days of infection.The SEIHCRD model outperforms the classic ARXmodel and the ARIMA model.RMSE,MAPE,andRsquaredmatrices are used to evaluate results and are graphically represented using Taylor and Target diagrams.The result shows RMSE has improved by 56%–74%,and MAPE has a 53%–89%improvement in prediction accuracy.

No Effects of Meteorological Factors on the SARS-CoV-2 Infection Fatality Rate

Objective Previous studies have shown that meteorological factors may increase COVID-19 mortality,likely due to the increased transmission of the virus.However,this could also be related to an increased infection fatality rate(IFR).We investigated the association between meteorological factors(temperature,humidity,solar irradiance,pressure,wind,precipitation,cloud coverage)and IFR across Spanish provinces(n=52)during the first wave of the pandemic(weeks 10–16 of 2020).Methods We estimated IFR as excess deaths(the gap between observed and expected deaths,considering COVID-19-unrelated deaths prevented by lockdown measures)divided by the number of infections(SARS-CoV-2 seropositive individuals plus excess deaths)and conducted Spearman correlations between meteorological factors and IFR across the provinces.Results We estimated 2,418,250 infections and 43,237 deaths.The IFR was 0.03%in<50-year-old,0.22%in 50–59-year-old,0.9%in 60–69-year-old,3.3%in 70–79-year-old,12.6%in 80–89-year-old,and26.5%in≥90-year-old.We did not find statistically significant relationships between meteorological factors and adjusted IFR.However,we found strong relationships between low temperature and unadjusted IFR,likely due to Spain’s colder provinces’aging population.Conclusion The association between meteorological factors and adjusted COVID-19 IFR is unclear.Neglecting age differences or ignoring COVID-19-unrelated deaths may severely bias COVID-19 epidemiological analyses.

Predicting COVID-19 fatality rate based on age group using LSTM

Objective: To predict the daily incidence and fatality rates based on long short-term memory(LSTM) in 4 age groups of COVID-19 patients in Mazandaran Province, Iran.Methods: To predict the daily incidence and fatality rates by age groups, this epidemiological study was conducted based on the LSTM model. All data of COVID-19 disease were collected daily for training the LSTM model from February 22, 2020 to April 10, 2021 in the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. We defined 4 age groups, i.e., patients under 29, between 30 and 49, between 50 and 59, and over 60 years old. Then, LSTM models were applied to predict the trend of daily incidence and fatality rates from 14 to 40 days in different age groups. The results of different methods were compared with each other.Results: This study evaluated 5 0826 patients and 5 109 deaths with COVID-19 daily in 20 cities of Mazandaran Province. Among the patients, 25 240 were females(49.7%), and 25 586 were males(50.3%). The predicted daily incidence rates on April 11, 2021 were 91.76, 155.84, 150.03, and 325.99 per 100 000 people, respectively;for the fourteenth day April 24, 2021, the predicted daily incidence rates were 35.91, 92.90, 83.74, and 225.68 in each group per 100 000 people. Furthermore, the predicted average daily incidence rates in 40 days for the 4 age groups were 34.25, 95.68, 76.43, and 210.80 per 100 000 people, and the daily fatality rates were 8.38, 4.18, 3.40, 22.53 per 100 000 people according to the established LSTM model. The findings demonstrated the daily incidence and fatality rates of 417.16 and 38.49 per 100 000 people for all age groups over the next 40 days. Conclusions: The results highlighted the proper performance of the LSTM model for predicting the daily incidence and fatality rates. It can clarify the path of spread or decline of the COVID-19 outbreak and the priority of vaccination in age groups.

Case Fatality Rate of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndromes in Beijing

To describe the case fatality rate of SARS in Beijing. Methods Data of SARS cases notified from Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention （BCDC） and supplemented by other channels were collected. The data were analyzed by rate calculation. Results The case fatality rate of SARS in Beijing was 7.66%, and had an ascending trend while the age of cases was getting older, and a descending trend while the epidemic developmem. The case fatality rate in Beijing was lower than that in other main epidemic countries or regions. Conclusions The risk of death increases with the increment of age of SARS patients. Beijing is successful in controlling and treating SARS.

A Study on the Global Scenario of COVID-19 Related Case Fatality Rate, Recovery Rate and Prevalence Rate and Its Implications for India—A Record Based Retrospective Cohort Study

Importance: Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the pandemic claiming millions of lives since the first outbreak was reported in Wuhan, China during December 2019. It is thus important to make cross-country comparison of the relevant rates and understand the socio-demographic risk factors. Methods: This is a record based retrospective cohort study. Table 1 was extracted from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ and from the Corona virus resource center (Table 2, Figures 1-3), Johns Hopkins University. Data for Table 1 includes all countries which reported >1000 cases and Table 2 includes 20 countries reporting the largest number of deaths. The estimation of CFR, RR and PR of the infection, and disease pattern across geographical clusters in the world is presented. Results: From Table 1, we could infer that as on 4th May 2020, COVID-19 has rapidly spread world-wide with total infections of 3,566,423 and mortality of 248,291. The maximum morbidity is in USA with 1,188,122 cases and 68,598 deaths (CFR 5.77%, RR 15% and PR 16.51%), while Spain is at the second position with 247,122 cases and 25,264 deaths (CFR 13.71%, RR 38.75%, PR 9.78%). Table 2 depicts the scenario as on 8th October 2020, where-in the highest number of confirmed cases occurred in US followed by India and Brazil (cases per million population: 23,080, 5007 & 23,872 respectively). For deaths per million population: US recorded 647, while India and Brazil recorded 77 and 708 respectively. Conclusion: Studying the distribution of relevant rates across different geographical clusters plays a major role for measuring the disease burden, which in-turn enables implementation of appropriate public healthcare measures.

Infection fatality rate and infection attack rate of COVID-19 in South American countries

Background:The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic hit South America badly with multiple waves.Different COVID-19 variants have been storming across the region,leading to more severe infections and deaths even in places with high vaccination coverage.This study aims to assess the spatiotemporal variability of the COVID-19 pandemic and estimate the infection fatality rate(IFR),infection attack rate(IAR)and reproduction number(R0)for twelve most affected South American countries.Methods:We fit a susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered(SEIR)-based model with a time-varying transmission rate to the reported COVID-19 deaths for the twelve South American countries with the highest mortalities.Most of the epidemiological datasets analysed in this work are retrieved from the disease surveillance systems by the World Health Organization,Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center and Our World in Data.We investigate the COVID-19 mortalities in these countries,which could represent the situation for the overall South American region.We employ COVID-19 dynamic model with-and-without vaccination considering time-varying flexible transmission rate to estimate IFR,IAR and R0 of COVID-19 for the South American countries.Results:We simulate the model in each scenario under suitable parameter settings and yield biologically reasonable estimates for IFR(varies between 0.303% and 0.723%),IAR(varies between 0.03 and 0.784)and R0(varies between 0.7 and 2.5)for the 12 South American countries.We observe that the severity,dynamical patterns of deaths and time-varying transmission rates among the countries are highly heterogeneous.Further analysis of the model with the effect of vaccination highlights that increasing the vaccination rate could help suppress the pandemic in South America.Conclusions:This study reveals possible reasons for the two waves of COVID-19 outbreaks in South America.We observed reductions in the transmission rate corresponding to each wave plausibly due to improvement in nonpharmaceutical interventions measures and human protective behavioral reaction to recent deaths.Thus,strategies coupling social distancing and vaccination could substantially suppress the mortality rate of COVID-19 in South America.

Estimation of the case fatality rate of COVID-19 epidemiological data in Nigeria using statistical regression analysis

Following the emergence of COVID-19 outbreak,numbers of studies have been conducted to curtail the global spread of the virus by identifying epidemiological changes of the disease through developing statistical models,estimation of the basic reproduction number,displaying the daily reports of confirmed and deaths cases,which are closely related to the present study.Reliable and comprehensive estimation method of the epidemiological data is required to understand the actual situation of fatalities caused by the epidemic.Case fatality rate(CFR)is one of the cardinal epidemiological parameters that adequately explains epidemiology of the outbreak of a disease.In the present study,we employed two statistical regression models such as the linear and polynomial models in order to estimate the CFR,based on the early phase of COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria(44 days since first reported COVID-19 death).The estimate of the CFR was determined based on cumulative number of confirmed cases and deaths reported from 23 March to 30 April,2020.The results from the linear model estimated that the CFR was 3.11%(95%CI:2.59%-3.80%)with R2 value of 90%and p-value of<0.0001.The findings from the polynomial model suggest that the CFR associated with the Nigerian outbreak is 3.0%and may range from 2.23%to 3.42%with R2 value of 93%and p-value of<0.0001.Therefore,the polynomial regression model with the higher R2 value fits the dataset well and provides better estimate of CFR for the reported COVID-19 cases in Nigeria.

Finding the real COVID-19 case-fatality rates for SAARC countries

The crude case fatality rate(CFR),because of the calculation method,is the most accurate when the pandemic is over since there is a possibility of the delay between disease onset and outcomes.Adjusted crude CFR measures can better explain the pandemic situation by improving the CFR estimation.However,no study has thoroughly investigated the COVID-19 adjusted CFR of the South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation(SAARC)countries.This study estimated both survival interval and underreporting adjusted CFR of COVID-19 for these countries.Moreover,we assessed the crude CFR between genders and across age groups and observed the CFR changes due to the imposition of fees on COVID-19 tests in Bangladesh.Using the daily records up to October 9,we implemented a statistical method to remove the delay between disease onset and outcome bias,and due to asymptomatic or mild symptomatic cases,reporting rates lower than 50%(95%CI:10%–50%)bias in crude CFR.We found that Afghanistan had the highest CFR,followed by Pakistan,India,Bangladesh,Nepal,Maldives,and Sri Lanka.Our estimated crude CFR varied from 3.708%to 0.290%,survival interval adjusted CFR varied from 3.767%to 0.296%and further underreporting adjusted CFR varied from 1.096%to 0.083%.Furthermore,the crude CFRs for men were significantly higher than that of women in Afghanistan(4.034%vs.2.992%)and Bangladesh(1.739%vs.1.337%)whereas the opposite was observed in Maldives(0.284%vs.0.390%),Nepal(0.006%vs.0.007%),and Pakistan(2.057%vs.2.080%).Besides,older age groups had higher risks of death.Moreover,crude CFR increased from 1.261%to 1.572%after imposing the COVID-19 test fees in Bangladesh.Therefore,the authorities of countries with higher CFR should be looking for strategic counsel from the countries with lower CFR to equip themselves with the necessary knowledge to combat the pandemic.Moreover,caution is needed to report the CFR.

A new method for accurate calculation of case fatality rates during a pandemic:Mathematical deduction based on population-level big data

Background:During the course of an epidemic of a potentially fatal disease,it is difficult to accurately estimate the case fatality rate(CFR)because many calculation methods do not account for the delay between case confirmation and disease outcome.Taking the coronavirus disease-2019(COVID-19)as an example,this study aimed to develop a new method for CFR calculation while the pandemic was ongoing.Methods:We developed a new method for CFR calculation based on the following formula:number of deaths divided by the number of cases T days before,where T is the average delay between case confirmation and disease outcome.An objective law was found using simulated data that states if the hypothesized T is equal to the true T,the calculated real-time CFR remains constant;whereas if the hypothesized T is greater(or smaller)than the true T,the real-time CFR will gradually decrease(or increase)as the days progress until it approaches the true CFR.Results:Based on the discovered law,it was estimated that the true CFR of COVID-19 at the initial stage of the pandemic in China,excluding Hubei Province,was 0.8%;and in Hubei Province,it was 6.6%.The calculated CFRs predicted the death count with almost complete accuracy.Conclusions:The method could be used for the accurate calculation of the true CFR during a pandemic,instead of waiting until the end of the pandemic,whether the pandemic is under control or not.It could provide those involved in outbreak control a clear view of the timeliness of case confirmations.

Comparison of Block Design Nonparametric Subset Selection Rules Based on Alternative Scoring Rules

This article compares the size of selected subsets using nonparametric subset selection rules with two different scoring rules for the observations. The scoring rules are based on the expected values of order statistics of the uniform distribution (yielding rank values) and of the normal distribution (yielding normal score values). The comparison is made using state motor vehicle traffic fatality rates, published in a 2016 article, with fifty-one states (including DC as a state) and over a nineteen-year period (1994 through 2012). The earlier study considered four block design selection rules—two for choosing a subset to contain the “best” population (i.e., state with lowest mean fatality rate) and two for the “worst” population (i.e., highest mean rate) with a probability of correct selection chosen to be 0.90. Two selection rules based on normal scores resulted in selected subset sizes substantially smaller than corresponding rules based on ranks (7 vs. 16 and 3 vs. 12). For two other selection rules, the subsets chosen were very close in size (within one). A comparison is also made using state homicide rates, published in a 2022 article, with fifty states and covering eight years. The results are qualitatively the same as those obtained with the motor vehicle traffic fatality rates.

The cholera epidemic of 2004 in Douala, Cameroon: A lesson learned

Objective: To describe the outbreak of 2004 with a view of retrospectively identifying factors that might explain the low case fatality rate. Methods: Outbreak data from 4 915 Cholera patients from registers of the Regional Health Delegation in Douala were analyzed using SPSS. Chi-square test, univariate and multivariate analysis were applied. Results: The outbreak started January 2004, peaking at 187 cases per week in February. After a decrease in April, case numbers rose to 688 cases per week in June. The outbreak was over in September 2004( <10 cases per week). The case fatality rate was higher in treatment centers with fewer than one nurse per two patients, than in those with more nursing staff. A temporary staff reduction after the first wave of the epidemic was associated with the increase of the case fatality rate during the second wave. This increase was reversed after re-instating full staff capacity.Conclusions: Providing sufficient nursing staff helps to lower the case fatality rate of cholera. Besides a lack of staff, age above 40 years is a risk factor for death in this disease.

Subgroup comparison of COVID-19 case and mortality with associated factors in Mississippi: findings from analysis of the first four months of public data

We compared subgroup differences in COVID-19 case and mortality and investigated factors associated with case and mortality rate(MR)measured at the county level in Mississippi.Findings were based on data published by the Mississippi State Department of Health between March 11 and July 16,2020.The COVID-19 case rate and case fatality rate(CFR)differed by gender and race,while MR only differed by race.Residents aged 80 years or older and those who live in a non-metro area had a higher case rate,CFR,and MR.After controlling for selected factors,researchers found that the percent of residents who are obese,low income,or with certain chronic conditions were associated with the county COVID-19 case rate,CFR,and/or MR,though some were negatively related.The findings may help the state to identify counties with higher COVID-19 case rate,CFR,and MR based on county demographics and the degree of its chronic conditions.

Empirical Assessment of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Vaccine to Combat COVID-19

COVID-19 has become one of the critical health issues globally,which surfaced first in latter part of the year 2019.It is the topmost concern for many nations’governments as the contagious virus started mushrooming over adjacent regions of infected areas.In 1980,a vaccine called Bacillus Calmette-Guérin(BCG)was introduced for preventing tuberculosis and lung cancer.Countries that have made the BCG vaccine mandatory have witnessed a lesser COVID-19 fatality rate than the countries that have not made it compulsory.This paper’s initial research shows that the countries with a longtermcompulsory BCGvaccination system are less affected by COVID-19 than those without a BCG vaccination system.This paper discusses analytical data patterns for medical applications regarding COVID-19 impact on countries with mandatory BCG status on fatality rates.The paper has tackled numerous analytical challenges to realize the full potential of heterogeneous data.An analogy is drawn to demonstrate how other factors can affect fatality and infection rates other than BCG vaccination only,such as age groups affected,other diseases,and stringency index.The data of Spain,Portugal,and Germany have been taken for a case study of BCG impact analysis.

Interest of Procalcitonin Measurement in Children with Cerebral Malaria in Southern Benin

Introduction: Cerebral malaria is a major complication of the Plasmodium falciparum infection with a high case fatality rate. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between cerebral malaria and high serum procalcitonin (PCT) level in children. Method: This was a prospective descriptive and analytical cohort study conducted over 12 months, on a series of PCT blood tests in children aged 6 months to 15 years old hospitalized for cerebral malaria in the pediatric wards of four hospitals in southern Benin. The cerebral malaria diagnosis was done based on WHO criteria. Blood samples for PCT measurement were collected on admission, 24 hours and 48 hours after the malaria therapy initiation. Student’s test, Pearson’s chi2 test, Fisher’s test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used where appropriate. For all comparisons the difference was significant when p was less than 5%. Results: Sixty-five children were included in the study with a sex ratio of 1.41. The age group of children under 5 years was the most represented, at 57%. PCT levels were high in 92.3% of children at admission, 90.8% at 24 hours and 84.6% at 48 hours. Forty-nine children had a positive clinical outcome while 16 died (24.6%). PCT levels were generally high over the three days of hospitalization, but higher at admission in case of death (p = 0.000). The association between PCT level and parasitemia at admission was significant (p = 0.04). Conclusion: In the view of the results, blood PCT level measured at admission could be predictive of the disease outcome in children with cerebral malaria.

Estimating geographic variation of infection fatality ratios during epidemics

Objectives We aim to estimate geographic variability in total numbers of infections and infection fatality ratios(IFR;the number of deaths caused by an infection per 1,000 infected people)when the availability and quality of data on disease burden are limited during an epidemic.Methods We develop a noncentral hypergeometric framework that accounts for differential probabilities of positive tests and reflects the fact that symptomatic people are more likely to seek testing.We demonstrate the robustness,accuracy,and precision of this framework,and apply it to the United States(U.S.)COVID-19 pandemic to estimate county-level SARS-CoV-2 IFRs.Results The estimators for the numbers of infections and IFRs showed high accuracy and precision;for instance,when applied to simulated validation data sets,across counties,Pearson correlation coefficients between estimator means and true values were 0.996 and 0.928,respectively,and they showed strong robustness to model misspecification.Applying the county-level estimators to the real,unsimulated COVID-19 data spanning April 1,2020 to September 30,2020 from across the U.S.,we found that IFRs varied from 0 to 44.69,with a standard deviation of 3.55 and a median of 2.14.Conclusions The proposed estimation framework can be used to identify geographic variation in IFRs across settings.

COVID-19 case fatality risk by age and gender in a high testing setting in Latin America: Chile, March-August 2020

Background:Early severity estimates of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)are critically needed to assess the potential impact of the on going pandemic in differe nt demographic groups.Here we estimate the real-time delayadjusted case fatality rate across nine age groups by gender in Chile,the country with the highest testing rate for COVID-19 in Latin America.Methods:We used a publicly available real-time daily series of age-stratified COVID-19 cases and deaths reported by the Ministry of Health in Chile from the beginning of the epidemic in March through August 31,2020.We used a robust likelihood function and a delay distribution to estimate real-time delay-adjusted case-fatality risk and estimate model parameters using a Monte Carlo Markov Chain in a Bayesian framework.

Impact of Lockdown Measures and Meteorological Parameters on the COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality Rate in Bangladesh

The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic has become a public health crisis and a global catastrophe for human societies.In the absence of a vaccine,non-pharmaceutical interventions have been implemented across the world to reduce COVID-19 transmission.Recently,several studies have articulated the influence of meteorological parameters on COVID-19 infections in several countries.The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of lockdown measures and meteorological parameters on COVID-19 daily confirmed cases and deaths in Bangladesh.Different parameters,such as case fatality rate,recovery rate,number of polymerase chain reaction tests,and percentages of confirmed cases were calculated for data covering March to September 2020.The meteorological data include daily average temperature,humidity,and wind speed,and their effects on COVID-19 data were analyzed after 0,3,7,and 14 days.A linear regression analysis revealed that all the studied meteorological parameters were positively correlated with the daily new cases and deaths in Bangladesh,while the highest correlations were observed for the 14 days incubation period.These results provide useful implications for the healthcare authorities to contain the pandemic in Bangladesh and beyond.

Influenza A virus exposure may cause increased symptom severity and deaths in coronavirus disease 2019

Background:The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak occurred during the flu season around the world. This study aimed to analyze the impact of influenza A virus (IAV) exposure on COVID-19.Methods:Seventy COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital during January and February 2020 in Wuhan, China were included in this retrospective study. Serum tests including respiratory pathogen immunoglobulin M (IgM) and inflammation biomarkers were performed upon admission. Patients were divided into common, severe, and critical types according to disease severity. Symptoms, inflammation indices, disease severity, and fatality rate were compared between anti-IAV IgM-positive and anti-IAV IgM-negative groups. The effects of the empirical use of oseltamivir were also analyzed in both groups. For comparison between groups, t tests and the Mann-Whitney U test were used according to data distribution. The Chi-squared test was used to compare disease severity and fatality between groups. Results:Thirty-two (45.71%) of the 70 patients had positive anti-IAV IgM. Compared with the IAV-negative group, the positive group showed significantly higher proportions of female patients (59.38% vs. 34.21%, χ^2 = 4.43, P = 0.035) and patients with fatigue (59.38% vs. 34.21%, χ^2 = 4.43, P = 0.035). The levels of soluble interleukin 2 receptor (median 791.00 vs. 1075.50 IU/mL, Z = -2.70, P = 0.007) and tumor necrosis factor α (median 10.75 vs. 11.50 pg/mL, Z = -2.18, P = 0.029) were significantly lower in the IAV-positive group. Furthermore, this group tended to have a higher proportion of critical patients (31.25% vs. 15.79%, P = 0.066) and a higher fatality rate (21.88% vs. 7.89%, P = 0.169). Notably, in the IAV-positive group, patients who received oseltamivir had a significantly lower fatality rate (0 vs. 36.84%, P = 0.025) compared with those not receiving oseltamivir. Conclusions:The study suggests that during the flu season, close attention should be paid to the probability of IAV exposure in COVID-19 patients. Prospective studies with larger sample sizes are needed to clarify whether IAV increases the fatality rate of COVID-19 and to elucidate any benefits of empirical usage of oseltamivir.