| Title: |
Excess mortality in Europe estimated by EuroMOMO during the COVID-19 pandemic and previous influenza seasons |
| Authors: |
Nørgaard, Sarah K.; Nielsen, Jens; Schjørring, Christel B.; Kalnæs, Albert S.; Richter, Lukas; Chalupka, Alena; Braeye, Toon; Nganda Mekogo, Serge; Athanasiadou, Maria; Lytras, Theodore; Denissov, Gleb; Luomala, Oskari; Pontais, Isabelle; Zacher, Benedikt; an der Heiden, Matthias; Mellou, Kassiani; Panagoulias, Ioannis; Paldy, Anna; Malnasi, Tibor; Kelly, Eva; Rotem, Naama; de’Donato, Francesca K.; Di Blasi, Chiara; Mossong, Joël; Vergison, Anne; England, Kathleen; Calleja, Neville; van Asten, Liselotte; van de Kassteele, Jan; Madsen, Christian; Silva, Susana; Rodrigues, Ana Paula; Kranjec, Natalija; León-Gómez, Inmaculada; Gomez-Barroso, Diana; Galanis, Ilias; Farah, Ahmed; Weitkunat, Rolf; Andrews, Nick; Clare, Tom; Bucholc, Magda; Bradley, Declan T.; William, Naoma; Hamilton, Mark; Jorgensen, Pernille; Pebody, Richard G.; Bundle, Nick; Søborg, Bolette; Krause, Tyra G.; Mølbak, Kåre; Vestergaard, Lasse S. |
| Publisher Information: |
Nature Publishing Group |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Collection: |
University of Malta: OAR@UM / L-Università ta' Malta |
| Subject Terms: |
COVID-19 (Disease) -- Europe; COVID-19 (Disease) -- Complications -- Europe; Influenza -- Complications -- Europe; Mortality -- Statistics; Respiratory infections -- Europe |
| Description: |
Important questions remain regarding differences in geographical and age-specific mortality patterns as the COVID-19 pandemic evolved in consecutive waves, and how COVID-19 mortality compares to seasonal influenza. In a pandemic situation, excess all-cause mortality provides a more complete and robust measure than cause-specific mortality. Data submitted by 26 countries participating in the European Mortality Monitoring (EuroMOMO) network between 2020 and 2023 was analysed to quantify excess all-cause mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Excess mortality from this period was compared to previous influenza seasons from 2014 to 2019. Pooled estimates of excess mortality showed four main waves during the COVID-19 pandemic period, most markedly in people aged 65 years and above, with timing and magnitude that varied between countries. Here we show that prior to implementation of control measures and COVID-19 vaccination, excess mortality greatly exceeded typical seasonal influenza mortality, but later during the pandemic was at levels comparable to influenza. ; peer-reviewed |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/143635 |
| DOI: |
10.1038/s41467-025-67981-1 |
| Availability: |
https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/143635; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67981-1 |
| Rights: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ; The copyright of this work belongs to the author(s)/publisher. The rights of this work are as defined by the appropriate Copyright Legislation or as modified by any successive legislation. Users may access this work and can make use of the information contained in accordance with the Copyright Legislation provided that the author must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the prior permission of the copyright holder. |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.815C9880 |
| Database: |
BASE |