tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Open Forum Infect Dis
. 2025 Jan 16;12(1)
fae719.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofae719. eCollection 2025 Jan. Ratio of Infections to COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations in the United States based on SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence Data, September 2021-February 2022
Yangyang Deng[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yun Kim[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Anna Bratcher[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Jefferson M Jones[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Muloongo Simuzingili[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Adi V Gundlapalli[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Melissa Briggs Hagen[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Ronaldo Iachan[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Kristie E N Clarke[SUP] 3 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Background: Understanding the risk of hospitalization from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections can guide effective public health interventions and severity assessments. This study calculated infection-hospitalization ratios (IHRs) and infection-case ratios (ICRs) to understand the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infections, cases, and hospitalizations among different age groups during periods of Delta and Omicron variant predominance.
Methods: After calculating antinucleocapsid SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence using residual commercial laboratory serum specimens, 2 ratios were computed: (1) IHRs using coronavirus disease 2019 hospitalization data and (2) ICRs using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance data. Ratios were calculated across age groups (0-17, 18-49, 50-69, and ≥70 years) for 2 time periods (September-December 2021 [Delta] and December 2021-February 2022 [Omicron]).
Results: Pediatric IHRs increased from 76.7 during Delta to 258.4 during Omicron. Adult IHRs ranged from 3.0 (≥70 years) to 21.6 (18-49 years) during Delta and from 10.0 (≥70 years) to 119.1 (18-49 years) during Omicron. The pediatric ICR was lower during the Delta period (2.7) compared with the Omicron period (3.7). Adult ICRs (Delta: 1.1 [18-49 years] to 2.1 [70+ years]; Omicron: 2.2 [>70+ years] to 2.9 [50-69 years]) were lower than pediatric ICRs during both time periods.
Conclusions: All age groups exhibited a lower proportion of infections associated with hospitalization in the Omicron period than the Delta period; the proportion of infections associated with hospitalization increased with each older age group. A lower proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infections were associated with reported cases in the Omicron period than in the Delta period among all age groups.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; antibody; immunology; seroprevalence.
. 2025 Jan 16;12(1)
fae719.doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofae719. eCollection 2025 Jan. Ratio of Infections to COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations in the United States based on SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence Data, September 2021-February 2022
Yangyang Deng[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yun Kim[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Anna Bratcher[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Jefferson M Jones[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Muloongo Simuzingili[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Adi V Gundlapalli[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Melissa Briggs Hagen[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Ronaldo Iachan[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Kristie E N Clarke[SUP] 3 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 39822271
- PMCID: PMC11736415
- DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofae719
Background: Understanding the risk of hospitalization from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections can guide effective public health interventions and severity assessments. This study calculated infection-hospitalization ratios (IHRs) and infection-case ratios (ICRs) to understand the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infections, cases, and hospitalizations among different age groups during periods of Delta and Omicron variant predominance.
Methods: After calculating antinucleocapsid SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence using residual commercial laboratory serum specimens, 2 ratios were computed: (1) IHRs using coronavirus disease 2019 hospitalization data and (2) ICRs using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance data. Ratios were calculated across age groups (0-17, 18-49, 50-69, and ≥70 years) for 2 time periods (September-December 2021 [Delta] and December 2021-February 2022 [Omicron]).
Results: Pediatric IHRs increased from 76.7 during Delta to 258.4 during Omicron. Adult IHRs ranged from 3.0 (≥70 years) to 21.6 (18-49 years) during Delta and from 10.0 (≥70 years) to 119.1 (18-49 years) during Omicron. The pediatric ICR was lower during the Delta period (2.7) compared with the Omicron period (3.7). Adult ICRs (Delta: 1.1 [18-49 years] to 2.1 [70+ years]; Omicron: 2.2 [>70+ years] to 2.9 [50-69 years]) were lower than pediatric ICRs during both time periods.
Conclusions: All age groups exhibited a lower proportion of infections associated with hospitalization in the Omicron period than the Delta period; the proportion of infections associated with hospitalization increased with each older age group. A lower proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infections were associated with reported cases in the Omicron period than in the Delta period among all age groups.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; antibody; immunology; seroprevalence.