Objective: To analyze the characteristics and the factors associated with mortality of cases hospitalized for severe acute respiratory syndrome in a health region, in pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Methods: A retrospective documentary study of epidemiological surveillance carried out with secondary data from the Influenza Epidemiological Surveillance Information System, regarding the cases of patients belonging to a health region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Results: During the pandemic period, there was an increase in the number of hospitalizations and deaths due to severe acute respiratory syndrome, in addition to differences between sociodemographic and clinical-epidemiological characteristics. In both periods, the age and the use of invasive ventilatory support were the predictors of hospital mortality. The mortality in the pandemic period was also associated with male gender, presence of risk factors, admission to an intensive care unit, use of non-invasive ventilatory support, and infection by COVID-19. Conclusions: In 2020, the detection rate of severe acute respiratory syndrome was 21 times higher than in 2019 and new symptoms, such as anosmia and ageusia, were included in their investigation. In both periods evaluated, elderly patients and patients on invasive mechanical ventilation had a higher risk of mortality. With the pandemic, there was a greater number of hospitalizations and factors associated with mortality.
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