Do not neglect SARS-CoV-2 hospitalization and fatality risks in the middle-aged adult population.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed at estimating the SARS-CoV-2 infection hospitalization (IHR) and infection fatality ratios (IFR) in France. Patients and methods: A serosurvey was conducted in 9782 subjects from the two French regions with the highest incidence of COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic and coupled with surveillance data. Results: IHR and IFR were 2.7% and 0.49% overall. Both were higher in men and increased exponentially with age. The relative risks of hospitalization and death were 2.1 (95% CI: 1.9-2.3) and 3.8 (2.4-4.2) per 10-year increase, meaning that IHR and IFR approximately doubled every 10 and 5 years, respectively. They were dramatically high in the very elderl..