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SG-APSIC1208: Association between severity of COVID-19 pneumonia and vaccination status in a tertiary-care teaching hospital in Malaysia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2023

Sasheela Sri La Sri Ponnampalavanar
Affiliation:
University Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia
Anjanna Kukreja
Affiliation:
University Malaya Medical Centre, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sazali Basri
Affiliation:
University Malaya, Faculty of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sheron Sir Loon Goh
Affiliation:
University Malaya, Faculty of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Syifa’ Ahmad Faisol
Affiliation:
University Malaya, Faculty of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Reggina Chong Syin Tze
Affiliation:
University Malaya, Faculty of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
YiShi Ong
Affiliation:
University Malaya, Faculty of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Anisa Salleh
Affiliation:
University Malaya, Faculty of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
SharifahFaridah Syed Omar
Affiliation:
University Malaya Medical Centre, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Zuhairah Mohd Razali
Affiliation:
University Malaya Medical Centre, Infection Control Department, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Adeeba Kamarulzaman
Affiliation:
University Malaya Medical Centre, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract

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Background and objectives: Since the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine through the National COVID-19 Immunization Program in Malaysia in February 2021, the number of cases of severe COVID-19 and mortality have progressively decreased. We explored the association between vaccination status, type of vaccine, and the highest COVID-19 clinical category. Methods: Patients were recruited via the electronic medical record (EMR) at University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) from July 2021 onward. Included patients were aged ≥18 years old with positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR results from respiratory samples (naso-oropharyngeal swab, saliva, or sputum). Patient demographic data, COVID-19 clinical category, vaccination status, and type of vaccine received were recorded. Results: In total, 1,391 positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR results were reviewed; 1,188 patients (85%) with complete data were analyzed. These patients’ median age was 50 years. The proportions of patients COVID-19 clinical categories were as follows: category 1 (4.04%), category 2 (28.37%), category 3 (10.7%), category 4 (30.6%), and category 5 (2.6%). The mortality rate was 21.5%. As of July 2021, only 16.8% of patients were fully vaccinated, 30.3% were vaccinated, 31.5% unvaccinated, and 21.5% had unknown vaccination status. In total 364 patients with category 4 COVID-19 (4.4%; P < .001) were fully vaccinated and no patients who were fully vaccinated had category 5 COVID-19 (P = .011). Furthermore, 40.8% of patients who died had unknown vaccination status (P < .01); 28.1% of patients who died were unvaccinated (P = .015); 25.3% of patients who died were partially vaccinated (P = .036); and 0.4% of patients who died were fully vaccinated (P < .001). For category 4 and 5 illness and death, there were no significant differences between the type of vaccine received (Pfizer-BioNTechR, Astra ZenecaR and Coronavac/SinovacR) and severe COVID-19. Conclusions: The completion of 2 doses of government-approved COVID-19 vaccination is paramount in preventing severe COVID-19 disease and death. Rapid rollout and equitable distribution of vaccination should be initiated. Vaccine hesitancy should be promptly addressed to ensure vaccination uptake.

Type
COVID-19
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America