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

de Souza, William Marciel; Buss, Lewis Fletcher; Candido, Darlan da Silva; Carrera, Jean-Paul; Li, Sabrina; Zarebski, Alexander E; Pereira, Rafael Henrique Moraes; Prete, Carlos A; de Souza-Santos, Andreza Aruska; Parag, Kris V; +32 more... Belotti, Maria Carolina TD; Vincenti-Gonzalez, Maria F; Messina, Janey; da Silva Sales, Flavia Cristina; Andrade, Pamela Dos Santos; Nascimento, Vítor Heloiz; Ghilardi, Fabio; Abade, Leandro; Gutierrez, Bernardo; Kraemer, Moritz UG; Braga, Carlos KV; Aguiar, Renato Santana; Alexander, Neal; Mayaud, Philippe; Brady, Oliver J; Marcilio, Izabel; Gouveia, Nelson; Li, Guangdi; Tami, Adriana; de Oliveira, Silvano Barbosa; Porto, Victor Bertollo Gomes; Ganem, Fabiana; de Almeida, Walquiria Aparecida Ferreira; Fantinato, Francieli Fontana Sutile Tardetti; Macário, Eduardo Marques; de Oliveira, Wanderson Kleber; Nogueira, Mauricio L; Pybus, Oliver G; Wu, Chieh-Hsi; Croda, Julio; Sabino, Ester C; Faria, Nuno Rodrigues; (2020) Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the COVID-19 epidemic in Brazil. NATURE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR, 4 (8). pp. 856-865. ISSN 2397-3374 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0928-4

Abstract

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 R0 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.

Additional Information

Item Type	Article
Faculty and Department	Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health > Dept of Infectious Disease Epidemiology Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases > Dept of Clinical Research
Research Centre	Covid-19 Research
PubMed ID	32737472
Elements ID	149708