COVID-19 epidemic in Panama
Objective: It is necessary to establish the evolution that the pandemic has had in Panama by weeks and months and to clearly establish the existence of surges or peaks, according to cases and deaths and the relationship with age groups. Methodology: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023108383 |
| _version_ | 1797336955450556416 |
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| author | Paulino Vigil-De Gracia Ilan Delgado Elias Saban Pablo Vigil-Vargas Roberto C. Cerrud-Rodríguez |
| author_facet | Paulino Vigil-De Gracia Ilan Delgado Elias Saban Pablo Vigil-Vargas Roberto C. Cerrud-Rodríguez |
| author_sort | Paulino Vigil-De Gracia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: It is necessary to establish the evolution that the pandemic has had in Panama by weeks and months and to clearly establish the existence of surges or peaks, according to cases and deaths and the relationship with age groups. Methodology: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all confirmed COVID-19 cases reported by the Ministry of Health of Panama during the first 3 years of the epidemic (March 9, 2020, March 11, 2023). All cases were obtained from information provided by the Ministry of Health. We obtained daily information of the population at the national level reported as new cases, deaths, admission to hospitals, admission to intensive care units and by age groups. The information is classified by epidemiological week and by month from the diagnosis of the first case until March 2023. Results: During the three years of the study, 1,032,316 cases of COVID-19 were registered in the Republic of Panama, and the number of deaths reported was 8,621, for a fatality rate of 0.83 % throughout that period. The number of deaths decreased over the 3 years of the pandemic; however, similar to the cases, there were periods of surges (peaks) per year in June/July and in December/January. The lethality progressively increased according to the age of the affected patients. During the first year, the lethality in those under 20 years of age was 0.05 %, and in those over 80 years old, it was 17.54 %. This pattern was maintained during the second year; however, there was a large decrease in all age groups. Conclusion: the highest lethality rate in Panama occurred in the first year of the pandemic, with a great decrease in the third year; the impact of lethality is proportional to the age of the individual, with a high possibility of death in those over 80 years of age. During each pandemic year, there are two peaks (surges of new cases and deaths) per year, which are important times to take into account to generate strategies aimed at reducing the impact. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T09:02:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4656664e459e4526a12a496a17d68b60 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T09:02:22Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-4656664e459e4526a12a496a17d68b602024-02-01T06:32:42ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402024-01-01101e23630COVID-19 epidemic in PanamaPaulino Vigil-De Gracia0Ilan Delgado1Elias Saban2Pablo Vigil-Vargas3Roberto C. Cerrud-Rodríguez4Complejo Hospitalario Dr. AAM Caja de Seguro Social, SIN/SENACYT, Transistmica, Bella Vista, Panama; Corresponding author.Universidad Latina, PanamaUniversidad de Panama, PanamaProyectos Educativos y Culturales, PanamaVascular Medicine Outcomes (VAMOS) Program, Section of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USAObjective: It is necessary to establish the evolution that the pandemic has had in Panama by weeks and months and to clearly establish the existence of surges or peaks, according to cases and deaths and the relationship with age groups. Methodology: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all confirmed COVID-19 cases reported by the Ministry of Health of Panama during the first 3 years of the epidemic (March 9, 2020, March 11, 2023). All cases were obtained from information provided by the Ministry of Health. We obtained daily information of the population at the national level reported as new cases, deaths, admission to hospitals, admission to intensive care units and by age groups. The information is classified by epidemiological week and by month from the diagnosis of the first case until March 2023. Results: During the three years of the study, 1,032,316 cases of COVID-19 were registered in the Republic of Panama, and the number of deaths reported was 8,621, for a fatality rate of 0.83 % throughout that period. The number of deaths decreased over the 3 years of the pandemic; however, similar to the cases, there were periods of surges (peaks) per year in June/July and in December/January. The lethality progressively increased according to the age of the affected patients. During the first year, the lethality in those under 20 years of age was 0.05 %, and in those over 80 years old, it was 17.54 %. This pattern was maintained during the second year; however, there was a large decrease in all age groups. Conclusion: the highest lethality rate in Panama occurred in the first year of the pandemic, with a great decrease in the third year; the impact of lethality is proportional to the age of the individual, with a high possibility of death in those over 80 years of age. During each pandemic year, there are two peaks (surges of new cases and deaths) per year, which are important times to take into account to generate strategies aimed at reducing the impact.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023108383COVID-19PanamáInfection diseaseDeathsLethality rate |
| spellingShingle | Paulino Vigil-De Gracia Ilan Delgado Elias Saban Pablo Vigil-Vargas Roberto C. Cerrud-Rodríguez COVID-19 epidemic in Panama Heliyon COVID-19 Panamá Infection disease Deaths Lethality rate |
| title | COVID-19 epidemic in Panama |
| title_full | COVID-19 epidemic in Panama |
| title_fullStr | COVID-19 epidemic in Panama |
| title_full_unstemmed | COVID-19 epidemic in Panama |
| title_short | COVID-19 epidemic in Panama |
| title_sort | covid 19 epidemic in panama |
| topic | COVID-19 Panamá Infection disease Deaths Lethality rate |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023108383 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT paulinovigildegracia covid19epidemicinpanama AT ilandelgado covid19epidemicinpanama AT eliassaban covid19epidemicinpanama AT pablovigilvargas covid19epidemicinpanama AT robertoccerrudrodriguez covid19epidemicinpanama |