Journal Article

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the COVID-19 epidemic in Brazil

Messina, Janey, Aguiar, Renato Santana, Croda, Julio, Carrera, Jean-Paul, Nascimento, Vítor Heloiz, Parag, Kris V., Gutierrez, Bernardo, de Oliveira, Wanderson Kleber, Gouveia, Nelson, Belotti, Maria Carolina T. D., Faria, Nuno Rodrigues, Ganem, Fabiana, Macário, Eduardo Marques, de Souza, William Marciel, Li, Guangdi, Tami, Adriana, Porto, Victor Bertollo Gomes, Candido, Darlan da Silva, Li, Sabrina, de Souza-Santos, Andreza Aruska, Andrade, Pamela dos Santos, Kraemer, Moritz U. G., da Silva Sales, Flavia Cristina, Buss, Lewis Fletcher, Vincenti-Gonzalez, Maria F., de Oliveira, Silvano Barbosa, Wu, Chieh-Hsi, Pereira, Rafael Henrique Moraes, Zarebski, Alexander E., Pybus, Oliver G., Nogueira, Mauricio L., Mayaud, Philippe, Sabino, Ester C., Prete, Carlos A., de Almeida, Walquiria Aparecida Ferreira, Ghilardi, Fabio, Brady, Oliver J., Fantinato, Francieli Fontana Sutile Tardetti, Alexander, Neal, Abade, Leandro, Marcilio, Izabel, Braga, Carlos K. V.

2020

Overview

The first case of COVID-19 was detected in Brazil on 25 February 2020. We report and contextualize epidemiological, demographic and clinical findings for COVID-19 cases during the first 3 months of the epidemic. By 31 May 2020, 514,200 COVID-19 cases, including 29,314 deaths, had been reported in 75.3% (4,196 of 5,570) of municipalities across all five administrative regions of Brazil. The R 0 value for Brazil was estimated at 3.1 (95% Bayesian credible interval = 2.4–5.5), with a higher median but overlapping credible intervals compared with some other seriously affected countries. A positive association between higher per-capita income and COVID-19 diagnosis was identified. Furthermore, the severe acute respiratory infection cases with unknown aetiology were associated with lower per-capita income. Co-circulation of six respiratory viruses was detected but at very low levels. These findings provide a comprehensive description of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic in Brazil and may help to guide subsequent measures to control virus transmission. Brazil has one of the fastest-growing COVID-19 epidemics in the world. De Souza et al. report epidemiological, demographic and clinical findings for COVID-19 cases in the country during the first 3 months of the epidemic.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group
• Subject: 631/326/596/2562 / 631/326/596/4130 / Adult / Aged / Bayesian analysis / Behavioral Sciences / Betacoronavirus - isolation & purification / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Brazil - epidemiology / Child / Clinical Laboratory Techniques - methods / Clinical Laboratory Techniques - statistics & numerical data / Coinfection - epidemiology / Comparative studies / Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis / Coronavirus Infections - drug therapy / Coronavirus Infections - mortality / Coronavirus Infections - therapy / Coronavirus Infections - transmission / Coronaviruses / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Drug Treatment / COVID-19 Testing / Deaths / Disease transmission / Disease Transmission, Infectious - prevention & control / Disease Transmission, Infectious - statistics & numerical data / Epidemics / Epidemiology / Etiology / Experimental Psychology / Female / Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data / Humans / Infant / Influenza, Human - diagnosis / Influenza, Human - epidemiology / Influenza, Human - virology / Life Sciences / Low income groups / Male / Medical diagnosis / Microeconomics / Mortality / Neurosciences / Pandemics / Personality and Social Psychology / Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis / Pneumonia, Viral - mortality / Pneumonia, Viral - therapy / Pneumonia, Viral - transmission / Respiratory diseases / SARS-CoV-2 / Socioeconomic Factors / Viruses