Health

Study Finds SARS-CoV-2 Booster Vaccination Reduces Infections, Hospitalizations and Deaths in Nursing Homes

Although data on the effectiveness of boosters to prevent infection and death in nursing home residents are limited, findings suggest that boosters significantly reduced COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality in this population. suggesting that it may have decreased.

Booster vaccination was associated with lower rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization, and mortality among nursing home residents. Recent research was announced in JAMA network opened.

Morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 have been high in nursing homes throughout the pandemic. In response to the surge in infections caused by the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the summer and fall of 2021, CDC recommends that at-risk individuals who have received a two-dose mRNA vaccine series receive a booster dose. did. However, data on the effectiveness of boosters to prevent infection and death among nursing home residents, who are particularly vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2-related morbidity and mortality, are limited.

This study used electronic health record data from two large multistate long-term care systems to examine individuals who received both the first round of mRNA vaccines and booster doses, and who received the first round of vaccines. We estimated vaccine efficacy (VE) in individuals who did not receive a booster dose.

“Nursing homes are the ideal environment for measuring VE because of their housing stability, systematic documentation of immunizations (including boosters), and frequent testing for SARS-CoV-2,” said the authors. are writing.

This study will track the incidence of confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization, or death in long-term care facilities, defined as living in the facility for at least 100 days, for up to 12 weeks after booster vaccination. I tracked down the resident. The VE estimate considered the ratio of cumulative incidence in the boosted cohort compared with the nonboosted cohort.

A total of 10,949 residents of 202 community nursing homes within the Genesis HealthCare system and 4,321 residents of 128 Veterans Health Care Community Living Centers (VHA CLCs) were included in the study. All residents had completed their first two-dose series of mRNA vaccines. A total of 8332 residents of the Genesis HealthCare system (system 1) and 3289 of the VHA CLC (system 2) were boosted. Results for each healthcare system were reported separately, primarily due to data usage agreements that prevent data from being exported from their respective secure servers.

Residents who received the boost were shown to have a lower incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in both healthcare systems. In System 1, boosted individuals were 37.7% less likely to be infected, and in System 2, boosted residents were 57.7% less likely to be infected. The incidence of hospitalization was 74.4% lower in system 1-boosted patients and 64.1% lower in system 2-boosted patients.

The estimated VE for death from SARS-CoV-2 was 87.9% in system 1, but system 2-boosted individuals did not have a significantly lower risk of death compared with non-boosted residents . However, mortality in boosted patients was slightly reduced. System 1-boosted residents demonstrated an 80.3% reduction in SARS-CoV-2-related hospitalization or death total endpoint, and System 2-boosted patients demonstrated a 63.8% reduction in total endpoint. I was.

Although the two nursing home populations differed significantly in size and demographics, each demonstrated efficacy of mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine boosters against the overall high-risk nursing home population. Although data for this population are sparse, a cohort study found a much lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization, and death among targeted nursing home populations. These findings highlight the importance of SARS-CoV-2 booster vaccination in this population.

reference

McConeghy KW, Bardenheier B, Huang AW, et al. Infections, hospitalizations, and deaths in US nursing home residents with and without SARS-CoV-2 vaccine boosters. JAMA net open2022;5(12):e2245417. Published December 1, 2022. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.45417

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Study Finds SARS-CoV-2 Booster Vaccination Reduces Infections, Hospitalizations and Deaths in Nursing Homes