Continued demographic shifts in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 from migrant workers to a vulnerable and more elderly local population at risk of severe disease
Objectives: In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, the vast majority of infected persons were migrant workers living in dormitories who had few medical comorbidities. In 2021, with the Delta and Omicron waves, this shifted to the more vulnerable, elderly population within the loc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-02-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Infectious Diseases |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971222006439 |
| _version_ | 1797943090894340096 |
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| author | Jinghao Nicholas Ngiam Srishti Chhabra Wilson Goh Meng Ying Sim Nicholas WS Chew Ching-Hui Sia Gail Brenda Cross Paul Anantharajah Tambyah |
| author_facet | Jinghao Nicholas Ngiam Srishti Chhabra Wilson Goh Meng Ying Sim Nicholas WS Chew Ching-Hui Sia Gail Brenda Cross Paul Anantharajah Tambyah |
| author_sort | Jinghao Nicholas Ngiam |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives: In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, the vast majority of infected persons were migrant workers living in dormitories who had few medical comorbidities. In 2021, with the Delta and Omicron waves, this shifted to the more vulnerable, elderly population within the local community. We examined evolving trends among the hospitalised cases of COVID-19.Methods: All patients with polymerase chain reaction-positive SARS-CoV-2 admitted from February 2020 to October 2021 were included and subsequently stratified by their year of admission (2020 or 2021). We compared the baseline clinical characteristics, clinical course, and outcomes.Results: A majority of cases were seen in 2020 (n = 1359), compared with 2021 (n = 422), due to the large outbreaks in migrant worker dormitories. Nevertheless, the greater proportion of locally transmitted cases outside of dormitories in 2021 (78.7% vs 12.3%) meant a significantly older population with more medical comorbidities had COVID-19. This led to an observably higher proportion of patients with severe disease presenting with raised inflammatory markers, need for therapeutics, supplemental oxygenation, and higher mortality.Conclusion: Changing demographics and the characteristics of the exposed populations are associated with distinct differences in clinical presentation and outcomes. Older age remained consistently associated with adverse outcomes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:17:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-69d7190471b941548ab05a418e737165 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1201-9712 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:17:46Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Infectious Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-69d7190471b941548ab05a418e7371652023-01-26T04:44:36ZengElsevierInternational Journal of Infectious Diseases1201-97122023-02-011277784Continued demographic shifts in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 from migrant workers to a vulnerable and more elderly local population at risk of severe diseaseJinghao Nicholas Ngiam0Srishti Chhabra1Wilson Goh2Meng Ying Sim3Nicholas WS Chew4Ching-Hui Sia5Gail Brenda Cross6Paul Anantharajah Tambyah7Department of Infectious Diseases, National University Health System, Singapore; Corresponding author: Fax: (65) 67794112, Tel: (65) 67795555Department of Medicine, National University Health System, SingaporeDepartment of Medicine, National University Health System, SingaporeDepartment of Medicine, National University Health System, SingaporeDepartment of Cardiology, National University Heart Centre Singapore, SingaporeDepartment of Cardiology, National University Heart Centre Singapore, Singapore; Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, SingaporeDepartment of Infectious Diseases, National University Health System, Singapore; Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, SingaporeDepartment of Cardiology, National University Heart Centre Singapore, Singapore; Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Infectious Diseases Translational Research Programme, Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of SingaporeObjectives: In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, the vast majority of infected persons were migrant workers living in dormitories who had few medical comorbidities. In 2021, with the Delta and Omicron waves, this shifted to the more vulnerable, elderly population within the local community. We examined evolving trends among the hospitalised cases of COVID-19.Methods: All patients with polymerase chain reaction-positive SARS-CoV-2 admitted from February 2020 to October 2021 were included and subsequently stratified by their year of admission (2020 or 2021). We compared the baseline clinical characteristics, clinical course, and outcomes.Results: A majority of cases were seen in 2020 (n = 1359), compared with 2021 (n = 422), due to the large outbreaks in migrant worker dormitories. Nevertheless, the greater proportion of locally transmitted cases outside of dormitories in 2021 (78.7% vs 12.3%) meant a significantly older population with more medical comorbidities had COVID-19. This led to an observably higher proportion of patients with severe disease presenting with raised inflammatory markers, need for therapeutics, supplemental oxygenation, and higher mortality.Conclusion: Changing demographics and the characteristics of the exposed populations are associated with distinct differences in clinical presentation and outcomes. Older age remained consistently associated with adverse outcomes.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971222006439COVID-19DemographicsSingapore |
| spellingShingle | Jinghao Nicholas Ngiam Srishti Chhabra Wilson Goh Meng Ying Sim Nicholas WS Chew Ching-Hui Sia Gail Brenda Cross Paul Anantharajah Tambyah Continued demographic shifts in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 from migrant workers to a vulnerable and more elderly local population at risk of severe disease International Journal of Infectious Diseases COVID-19 Demographics Singapore |
| title | Continued demographic shifts in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 from migrant workers to a vulnerable and more elderly local population at risk of severe disease |
| title_full | Continued demographic shifts in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 from migrant workers to a vulnerable and more elderly local population at risk of severe disease |
| title_fullStr | Continued demographic shifts in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 from migrant workers to a vulnerable and more elderly local population at risk of severe disease |
| title_full_unstemmed | Continued demographic shifts in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 from migrant workers to a vulnerable and more elderly local population at risk of severe disease |
| title_short | Continued demographic shifts in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 from migrant workers to a vulnerable and more elderly local population at risk of severe disease |
| title_sort | continued demographic shifts in hospitalised patients with covid 19 from migrant workers to a vulnerable and more elderly local population at risk of severe disease |
| topic | COVID-19 Demographics Singapore |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971222006439 |
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