Among the unvaccinated, the average age of deaths is lower (78.3 vs 85.5), as is the number of pre-existing chronic diseases.
Among those who received the complete vaccination course against Covid, only a few very elderly people with previous diseases died. Among the unvaccinated, the average age of the deceased is lower (78.3 vs 85.5), as is the number of chronic diseases (3.9 vs 5). To say the periodic report of the Istituto Superiore di Sanit on deaths, based on 671 medical records recorded between February and October of this year. Further proof of the protection offered by vaccines even in fragile individuals.
Heart disease, dementia and cancer
Between February 1 and October 5, 38,096 Sars-CoV-2 positive people died in Italy: 33,620 had not received any dose of vaccine and 1,440 had been vaccinated with a full cycle (3.7% of all Sars- CoV-2 positive occurred in the period considered). The others are classified as being vaccinated with early contagion, i.e. before completing the vaccination course or at a time when a specific immune response has not yet been stimulated. Among the vaccinated, the diseases that have raised the risk of death the most are heart disease (ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation and heart failure), dementia and cancer.
Reduced immune response
People who have died after completing the vaccination course have a high level of clinical complexity, significantly higher than people who have not been able to benefit from the effect of the vaccine due to an early infection or because they have not even started the vaccination course – he explained. Graziano Onder, Director of the Department of Cardiovascular, Endocrine-Metabolic Diseases and Aging of the ISS -. It is possible to hypothesize that very elderly patients with numerous pathologies may have a reduced immune response and therefore be susceptible to Sars-CoV-2 infection and its complications despite having been vaccinated. These people, very fragile and with a reduced immune response, are those who can benefit most from vaccination coverage of the entire population.
Women and men
The report also describes the characteristics of the 130,468 deceased and coronavirus positive patients from the start of surveillance to 5 October 2021. The average age is 80 and the women who have died are 43.5% (approximately 56,800). Only among the over 90s is the number of female deaths higher than those of males, given that the population in this group is made up of about 72% of women. Overall, the deceased women were older than men (85 versus 80). Among the under 50s, deaths were 1.2% (1,601). In particular, 399 were under the age of 40 (245 men and 154 women). The median age of patients who died is more than 35 years higher than that of patients who contracted the infection (82 years versus 45).
The trend of the media age
The document also shows the trend in the average age of patients who died per calendar week, starting from the third week of February 2020 (the first death occurred on February 20 last year). The average age of weekly deaths increased up to 85 years (first week of July 2020), and then dropped slightly; a further reduction in the average age of deaths occurred from February-March 2021 (80 years), up to 72 years in the second week of July 2021. Probably a consequence of the protective effect of vaccinations, guaranteed in via priority to the older population. From the second week of July the average age of deaths increased slightly, remaining however below 80 years.
Pre-existing chronic diseases
The ISS experts took stock of the most common pre-existing chronic diseases (diagnosed before contracting the infection) in a sample of 7,910 patients hospitalized and who died in hospitals in different regions. Overall, 230 patients (2.9% of the sample) had no disease, 902 (11.4%) had one disease, 1,424 (18%) had two and 5,354 (67.7%) had three or more. The prevalence of ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, stroke, arterial hypertension, dementia, increase with age; On the other hand, with advancing age, cases of chronic liver disease, pathologies requiring dialysis, HIV infection and obesity, decrease; for diabetes, BPCO (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and cancer there is a decrease only in the last age group in contrast to the general growth with age; for autoimmune diseases, on the contrary, there is an increase only in the last age group, in contrast to the decrease with age.
The complications of Covid
Regarding the complications related to Sars-CoV-2 infection, with the exception of respiratory complications that are present in a homogeneous manner in all age groups, non-respiratory complications were more common in the deceased under 70. This data indicates that in the younger population, which has fewer chronic diseases, death is often associated with the coexistence of respiratory and non-respiratory complications of the infection. Respiratory failure was the most commonly reported complication in the sample analyzed (93.6%), followed by acute kidney injury (24.9%), superinfection (20.1%) and acute myocardial injury (10.2%).
October 20, 2021 (change October 20, 2021 | 15:24)
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