Scientists identify unique patterns in COVID-19 transmission in India

Researchers including those from the Government of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have conducted one of the largest analysis of COVID19 epidemiology to date and have found that both cases and deaths due to the disease have been more heavily concentrated in the 4069 year age group in India than is seen in highincome countries among other trendsThe study published in the journal Science on Wednesday assessed the disease transmission patterns in 575071 individuals exposed to 84965 confirmed cases of COVID19 in the two states based on data collected by tens of thousands of contact tracersAccording to the scientists including Ramanan Laxminarayan from the Center for Disease Dynamics Economics and Policy in New Delhi the findings offer a peek into the pandemics trajectory in a low and middleincome country where most COVID19 cases have occurredBased on the data the scientists said both cases and deaths in the two Indian states were concentrated in younger cohorts than expected from observations in higherincome countriesThe study noted that contacts with the same age were associated with the greatest infection risk a pattern which the researchers said was strongest among children between 014 years of age and among adults older than 65 yearsThey said the proportion of deaths to the number of infected people known as the casefatality ratio CFR spanned 005 per cent at ages 517 years to 166 per cent at ages exceeding 85The researchers also noted that COVID19 patients in the two states have a median stay of five days in the hospital before death compared to 13 days to death from the date of hospital admission in the USFollowup testing of exposed contacts revealed that 70 per cent of infected individuals did not infect any of their contacts while 8 per cent of coronavirus positive patients accounted for 60 per cent of observed new infectionsThe researchers said this finding presents the largest empirical demonstration of superspreadingThey said the findings may indicate the identification of lesssevere infections through active casefindingAndhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are among the Indian states with the largest healthcare workforce and public health expenditures per capita and are known for their effective primary healthcare delivery models the study notedIt said 63 per cent of those who died had at least one comorbidity and 36 per cent had two or more underlying health conditions that made them more susceptible to the diseaseAbout 45 per cent of those who died were diabetic the scientists saidUnlike observations in highincome countries they said the deaths in India are concentrated at ages 5064 yearsIn the two Indian states in particular they said only 179 per cent of COVID19 deaths occurring on or before 1 August 2020 were among people older than 75 compared with 581 per cent of deaths due to the disease in the USThis study was made possible by the significant contact tracing effort in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu which involved tens of thousands of healthcare workers Mr Laxminarayan saidThe results on disease transmission and mortality have the potential to inform policy to fight COVID19 The study also speaks to the capacity of research emerging from India to help inform the global response to COVID19 he addedKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever