Introduction:

Due to the different epidemiology of COVID-19 in different regions of the world, it is important to know the impact of health variables specific to each country.

Objective:

To evaluate the role of history of BCG vaccination and recent history of dengue among risk factors for hospitalization of patients with COVID-19.

Methods:

Observational, cross-sectional study that recorded sociodemographic and clinical variables by means of structured interview in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in four health institutions in Paraguay (September to December 2020). Logistic regression models evaluated factors associated with outcome.

Results:

397 patients were included. The frequency of hospitalization was higher in male patients, age > 40 years, lower income, obesity, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. There was less hospitalization among health personnel and in those who reported bronchial asthma. Male sex (ORa 3.72; 95%CI 2.22-6.22), arterial hypertension (ORa 2.46; 95%CI 1.30-4.64), income (ORa 1.98; 95%CI 1.03-3.80), healthcare worker (ORa 0.20; 95%CI 0.11-0.37) and bronchial asthma (ORa 0.40; 95%CI 0.20-0.82) were influential in the multivariate analysis. In certain models studied by logistic regression, those who reported a history of BCG vaccination were associated with a lower frequency of hospitalization. History of symptomatic dengue fever was not among the relevant variables related to outcome.

Conclusions:

Among several COVID-19 severity prediction models, BCG vaccination history may be associated with hospitalization rates.

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