Nathanael R. Fillmore
Publications / 2023
paper
Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology2023doi:10.1017/ice.2022.79

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalization metrics that do not account for disease severity underestimate protection provided by severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination and boosting: A retrospective cohort study.

June K. Corrigan†, Jennifer La†, Nathanael R. Fillmore, Nhan V. Do, Mary Brophy, Shira Doron, Paul A. Monach‡, Westyn Branch-Elliman‡

† Equal first authorship · ‡ Equal senior authorship

Summary

Measuring COVID-19 hospitalizations without accounting for illness severity underestimates the actual protection provided by vaccinations and booster doses. Using markers such as oxygen requirements and medication use reveals that boosters significantly reduce the risk of severe disease compared to primary series vaccination alone.

Key result

Among patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2, the proportions meeting criteria for severe hypoxemia, dexamethasone use, or remdesivir use were significantly lower among boosted patients than vaccinated patients (P = .03; P < .001; P < .001, respectively) and lower among vaccinated patients than unvaccinated patients (P < .001 for all three metrics).

Key figure

Key figure from Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalization metrics that do not account for disease severity underestimate protection provided by severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination and boosting: A retrospective cohort study.