Epidemiological Characteristics of COVID-19 during Seven Consecutive Epidemiological Waves (2020–2022) in the North Bačka District, Serbia
Author:
Banjac Jelena1, Vuković Vladimir23ORCID, Pustahija Tatjana23, Bohucki Nebojša1, Berić Dragica Kovačević1, Medić Snežana23, Petrović Vladimir23ORCID, Ristić Mioljub23
Affiliation:
1. Public Health Institute Subotica, 24000 Subotica, Serbia 2. Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia 3. Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a threat to global public health. The purpose of this research was to determine the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 in the North Bačka district while observing seven pandemic waves. The cross-sectional study was based on data from the COVID-19 surveillance database of the Institute for Public Health of Vojvodina during the period from March 2020 to December 2022. A total of 38,685 primary infections and 4067 reinfections caused by SARS-CoV-2 were notified. Pandemic waves caused by the Delta variant (cumulative incidence rate of 2482.37/100,000) and by the Omicron variant (cumulative incidence rate of 2994.45/100,000) emerged as significant focal points during the surveillance period. Over the course of three consecutive years (2020–2022), women were more affected (50.11%, 54.03%, and 55.68%, respectively). The highest incidence rates in age-specific categories were recorded in 2021 for the age group 40–49 (1345.32 per 10,000 inhabitants), while in 2022, they shifted towards the elderly population. Regarding vaccination status at the time of diagnosis, in 2021, around 15% of patients were vaccinated, while in 2022, the number increased to 37%. The most widely received vaccine was BBIBP-CorV (67.45%), followed by BNT162b2 (19.81%), Gam-COVID-Vac (9.31%), and ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (3.42%) vaccine. The implementation of stringent public health measures and their mitigation, together with the emergence of new variants, influenced the dynamics of COVID-19 pandemic waves in the North Bačka district. Notably, throughout the study period, the working-age population was the most affected, along with females, with a mild clinical presentation dominating. Reinfections were most frequently recorded during the latter pandemic waves. Dealing with this pandemic has provided some valuable lessons for the development of future strategies in the case of a similar public health crisis.
Subject
Virology,Infectious Diseases
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