SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 hospitalised patients in Switzerland: a prospective cohort profile

Background SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, which emerged in China in late 2019, rapidly spread across the world causing several million victims in 213 countries. Switzerland was severely hit by the virus, with 43’000 confirmed cases as of September 1st, 2020. Aim In cooperation with the Federal Office of Public Health, we set up a surveillance database in February 2020 to monitor hospitalised patients with COVID-19 in addition to their mandatory reporting system. Methods Patients hospitalised for more than 24 hours with a positive PCR test, from 20 Swiss hospitals, are included. Data collection follows a custom Case Report Form based on WHO recommendations and adapted to local needs. Nosocomial infections were defined as infections for which the onset of symptoms started more than 5 days after the patient’s admission date. Results As of September 1st, 2020, 3645 patients were included. Most patients were male (2168 - 59.5%),and aged between 50 and 89 years (2778 - 76.2%), with a median age of 68 (IQR 54-79). Community infections dominated with 3249 (89.0%) reports. Comorbidities were frequently reported: hypertension (1481 - 61.7%), cardiovascular diseases (948 - 39.5%), and diabetes (660 - 27.5%) being the most frequent in adults; respiratory diseases and asthma (4 −21.1%), haematological and oncological diseases (3 – 15.8%) being the most frequent in children. Complications occurred in 2679 (73.4%) episodes, mostly for respiratory diseases (2470 - 93.2% in adults, 16 – 55.2% in children), renal (681 – 25.7%) and cardiac (631 – 23.8%) complication for adults. The second and third most frequent complications in children affected the digestive system and the liver (7 - 24.1%). A targeted treatment was given in 1299 (35.6%) episodes, mostly with hydroxychloroquine (989 - 76.1%). Intensive care units stays were reported in 578 (15.8%) episodes. 527 (14.5%) deaths were registered, all among adults. Conclusion The surveillance system has been successfully initiated and provides a very representative set of data for Switzerland. We therefore consider it to be a valuable addition to the existing mandatory reporting, providing more precise information on the epidemiology, risk factors, and clinical course of these cases. ### Competing Interest Statement PWS has received travel grants from Gilead and Pfizer, and speakers honorary from Pfizer. ### Clinical Trial This study was submitted and approved by the Geneva Ethics Committee (CCER) and by all hospitals' local Ethics Committee through the Swissethics BASEC submission system under reference 2020-00827. ### Funding Statement This work was supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health under reference 333.0-20/1. OK acknowledges additional support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) via grant #163878. PWS has received grant support from the Career funding program "Filling the Gap" of the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: This study was submitted and approved by the Geneva Ethics Committee (CCER) and by all hospitals local Ethics Committee through the Swissethics BASEC submission system, under reference 2020-00827. All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes The anonymised data can be accessed through a multi-stage process. Applicants must fill a concept-sheet (supplementary material) and send it to the team in charge of the study. An Executive Committee of experts and representatives of hospital participants will review the concept. Depending on the goal of the analysis, additional ethics clearance might be needed. Data will be restricted to the request and shared through a secure platform. All steps to access the data are described in the aforementioned concept-sheet (supplementary material).