November 06, 2020
Bulletin interne de l'Institut Pasteur
Number of COVID-19 deaths in under-65s: a more reliable indicator for evaluating infection rates across populations
Simply comparing the total number of deaths across countries may provide a misleading representation of the underlying level of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, because of large differences in reported COVID-19 death rates in elderly populations in different countries. The research, conducted by scientists at the University of Cambridge, the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS and published in the journal Nature, highlights how the strong spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes in Europe and the incomplete data on deaths among elderly people in some countries make it difficult to use the total number of deaths as a way of comparing the level of circulation of the virus in different countries.
The researchers show that reporting of deaths from COVID-19 among those under the age of 65 is likely to be far more reliable, and can therefore give clearer insights into the underlying transmission of the virus and enable better comparisons between countries – crucial in guiding government strategies to try to get COVID-19 under control.