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Ortiz-Prado E, Simbaña-Rivera K, Barreno LG, Diaz AM, Barreto A, Moyano C, Arcos V, Vásconez-González E, Paz C, Simbaña-Guaycha F, Molestina-Luzuriaga M, Fernández-Naranjo R, Feijoo J, Henriquez-Trujillo AR, Adana L, López-Cortés A, Fletcher I, Lowe R. Epidemiological, socio-demographic and clinical features of the early phase of the COVID-19 epidemic in Ecuador. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2021; 15:e0008958. [PMID: 33395425 PMCID: PMC7817051 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2020] [Revised: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 virus has spread rapidly around the globe. Nevertheless, there is limited information describing the characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients in Latin America. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 9,468 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in Ecuador. We calculated overall incidence, mortality, case fatality rates, disability adjusted life years, attack and crude mortality rates, as well as relative risk and relative odds of death, adjusted for age, sex and presence of comorbidities. A total of 9,468 positive COVID-19 cases and 474 deaths were included in the analysis. Men accounted for 55.4% (n = 5, 247) of cases and women for 44.6% (n = 4, 221). We found the presence of comorbidities, being male and older than 65 years were important determinants of mortality. Coastal regions were most affected by COVID-19, with higher mortality rates than the highlands. Fatigue was reported in 53.2% of the patients, followed by headache (43%), dry cough (41.7%), ageusia (37.1%) and anosmia (36.1%). We present an analysis of the burden of COVID-19 in Ecuador. Our findings show that men are at higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than women, and risk increases with age and the presence of comorbidities. We also found that blue-collar workers and the unemployed are at greater risk of dying. These early observations offer clinical insights for the medical community to help improve patient care and for public health officials to strengthen Ecuador's response to the outbreak.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esteban Ortiz-Prado
- One Health Research Group, Faculty of Health Science, Universidad de Las Americas, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Katherine Simbaña-Rivera
- One Health Research Group, Faculty of Health Science, Universidad de Las Americas, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Lenin Gómez Barreno
- One Health Research Group, Faculty of Health Science, Universidad de Las Americas, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Ana Maria Diaz
- One Health Research Group, Faculty of Health Science, Universidad de Las Americas, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Alejandra Barreto
- One Health Research Group, Faculty of Health Science, Universidad de Las Americas, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Carla Moyano
- One Health Research Group, Faculty of Health Science, Universidad de Las Americas, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Vannesa Arcos
- One Health Research Group, Faculty of Health Science, Universidad de Las Americas, Quito, Ecuador
| | | | - Clara Paz
- School of psychology, Universidad de Las Americas, Quito, Ecuador
| | | | | | - Raúl Fernández-Naranjo
- One Health Research Group, Faculty of Health Science, Universidad de Las Americas, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Javier Feijoo
- Instituto de Física La Plata, Universidad Nacional de la Plata, La Plata, Argentina
| | | | - Lila Adana
- School of psychology, Universidad de Las Americas, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Andrés López-Cortés
- Centro de Investigación Genética y Genómica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud Eugenio Espejo, Universidad UTE, Quito, Ecuador
- Red Latinoamericana de Implementación y Validación de Guías Clínicas Farmacogenómicas (RELIVAF-CYTED), Quito, Ecuador
| | - Isabel Fletcher
- Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Rachel Lowe
- Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain
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