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Nephritic Syndrome is caused by variable pathogenesis and etiology of glomerular inflammation, which can result in hematuria, varying degrees of proteinuria, and leukocyturia. Following the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, there has been a decrease observed in the number of hospitalizations for Acute and Rapidly Progressive Nephritic Syndrome. This article's primary objective is to effectively and cohesively evaluate the possible correlation between Acute and Rapidly Progressive Nephritic Syndrome and the COVID-19 pandemic by analyzing the epidemiological profile of patients in the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods, which encompass the periods from July 2016 to December 2019 and from January 2020 to June 2023.
A descriptive, cross-sectional, and retrospective study was conducted using data obtained from the Informatics' Department of the Sistema Único de Saúde (DATASUS) collected from 2016 to 2033. Hospitalizations of patients with Acute and Rapidly Progressive Nephritic Syndrome were analyzed, including demographic variables, geographical regions, gender, age groups, race/ethnicity, deaths, and average costs per hospitalization.
In the period from July 2016 to December 2019, there were 18,229 hospitalizations for Acute and Rapidly Progressive Nephritic Syndrome, with emphasis on the Northeast region (44.5% of the total). The majority of hospitalizations were male patients (52.7%) aged 5 to 9 years (28.3%), being brown (47%). 94 deaths were recorded, mainly in the Northeast region (36.2%), with a predominance of females (54.3%) and those aged 80 years or over (20.2%). The predominant Color/Race among deaths was mixed race (44.7%), and the average amount spent per hospitalization was R$573.38. From December 2020 to June 2023, there were 13,122 hospitalizations, with emphasis on the Northeast region (41.9%). The majority of patients were male (51.1%), aged between 5 and 9 years (23.3%), predominantly brown (56.1%). 91 deaths were recorded, with emphasis on the Southeast region (37.4%), predominance of males (51.6%), age group from 70 to 79 years old (18.7%), and predominance of brown skin color (46 .7%). The average amount spent per hospitalization increased to R$675.42 (17.8%).
Thus, this analysis did not reveal any significant change in the incidence of nephritic syndromes. It is noteworthy that the majority of hospitalizations for patients with Acute and Rapidly Progressive Nephritic Syndrome remained concentrated among male brown children. The limited timeframe of study may contribute to the absence of this variation, suggesting the need for an extended monitoring period to draw definitive conclusions. These findings underscore how important it is to keep monitoring this health condition, given the systemic consequences it may present, and the need of public policies implementation focused on prevention and treatment, especially for the specific risk groups identified throughout these years.