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

de Souza, W M; Buss, L F; Candido, D A; Carrera, J P; Li, S; Zarebski, A E; Pereira, R H M; Prete, C A; de Souza-Santos, A A; Parag, K V; Belotti, M C T D; Vincenti-Gonzalez, M F; Messina, J; da Silva Sales, F C; Andrade, P S; Nascimento, V H; Ghilardi, F; Abade, L; Gutierrez, B; Kraemer, M U G; Braga, C K V; Aguiar, R S; Alexander, N; Mayaud, P; Brady, O J; Marcilio, I; Gouveia, N; Li, G; Tami, A; de Oliveira, S B; Porto, V P G; Ganem, F; de Almeida, W A F; Fantinato, F F S; Macário, E M; de Oliveira, W K; Nogueira, M L; Pybus, O G; Wu, C H; Croda, J; Sabino, E C; Faria, N R

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.

Citation

de Souza, W. M., Buss, L. F., Candido, D. A., Carrera, J. P., Li, S., Zarebski, A. E., Pereira, R. H. M., Prete, C. A., de Souza-Santos, A. A., Parag, K. V., Belotti, M. C. T. D., Vincenti-Gonzalez, M. F., Messina, J., da Silva Sales, F. C., Andrade, P. S., Nascimento, V. H., Ghilardi, F., Abade, L., Gutierrez, B., Kraemer, M. U. G., …Faria, N. R. (2020). Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the COVID-19 epidemic in Brazil. Nature Human Behaviour, 4(8), 856-865

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 15, 2020
• Publication Date: Jul 31, 2020
• Deposit Date: Oct 29, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 1, 2021
• Journal: Nature Human Behaviour
• Electronic ISSN: 2397-3374
• Publisher: Nature Research
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 856-865
• Public URL: https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1376463
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0928-4