No abstract

Introduction: The knowledge of epidemiologic characteristics and transmission dynamics of a novel pathogen, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) among close contacts can help in planning and development of effective control policies in different parts of the world. Aim: To assess the epidemiological and clinical outcome of close contacts of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-2019) cases admitted in a tertiary COVID hospital and to assess the role of risk factors in predicting the epidemiological outcome of these contacts. Materials and Methods: The current retrospective cohort study was conducted among 1286 close contacts of COVID-19 patients admitted to Government Medical College, Thrissur, Kerala. The data collection was done by a semi-structured telephonic interview by the contact tracing team. The questions included the type of exposure to the index case, symptoms if any, date of last exposure with COVID-19 positive patients, and final COVID-19 status of the contact at the end of 14 days. The association of risk factors of COVID-19 positivity was done using binary logistic regression. Results: Proportion of close contacts of COVID-19 who developed the disease was 24.2% (21.87-26.52%). The mean incubation period was found to be 4.22 days (C.I-3.71-4.65). The serial interval mean was found to be 5.24 days (C.I 4.764-5.716). The proportion of household contacts of COVID-19 cases who developed the disease was found to be 26% (C.I-23%-29%). The majority (52.4%) of infections among contacts were asymptomatic. Most common symptom among the COVID-19 positive was fever (32.8%) followed by cough (16.1%). The most common risk factors of infection among primary close contacts were sharing the same room (adjusted odds ratio-2.394) and common use of fomites (adjusted odds ratio-1.953) while use of a mask was found to be protective (adjusted odds ratio-0.570). Significant factors associated with the type of contact with infection were workplace-related contact (adjusted odds ratio-6.629), household contact (adjusted odds ratio-4.856), and travel-related contact (adjusted odds ratio-2.899). Conclusion:The study concludes important risk factors of transmission among close contacts of COVID-19 as being in a household, workplace and travel related contact where the use of mask was found to be protective. The study also concludes that most of the COVID-19 infections in close contacts are asymptomatic.

Background: Anaemia is currently one of the most common and intractable nutritional problems globally. During the period of adolescence, iron requirements increase dramatically in both boys and girls resulting in a higher probability of anaemia. The objective of the study was done to find out the prevalence of anaemia among adolescent boys and girls in Ambalapuzha Taluk and to assess the scholastic performance of the anaemic and non-anaemic in the study group. Methods: The setting was different schools of Ambalapuzha Taluk and the study was cross sectional in nature. Study subjects were children studying in 5th -10th standards selected from aided, unaided and government schools. The total sample size of the study was 2789 subjects. Statistical analysis: Data was entered in Microsoft excel and was analysed using SPSS 16.0 versionResults: The prevalence of anaemia in the whole population was 53.5% (C.I-51.64-55.34%). The anaemia prevalence in females was 62.0% (C.I -59.33-64.6) and in males was 46.1% (C.I -43.55-48.61). Out of the total population 0.4% were severely anaemic [male 0.3% (5) and female 0.5% (6)]. The prevalence of moderate anaemia was 3.4% [male 2.8% (41) and female 4.2% (54)] and that of mild anaemia was 49.7 [male 43% (640) and female 57.4% (746)]. The factors that were found to be significantly associated with adolescent anaemia were female gender (62% vs. 46.1%), being overweight (59.7% vs. 53.2), not taking WIFS regularly (56.5% vs. 51.8% and 28.6% among irregularly taking WIFS and regular takers) and children coming from families with monthly income less than INR 1000. Conclusions: On comparing the academic performance of anaemic and non-anaemic children it was found that the aggregate marks was significantly lower in the anaemic group (178.11 marks) compared to the non-anaemic group (217.63 marks) (p=0.001).

Background: Leptospirosis is a common zoonosis caused by bacteria, Leptospira. The core determinants of the disease are the presence of carrier animals, environmental factors and the interaction between man, carrier and the environment. Understanding the type of relation between these factors and leptospirosis will help in controlling the disease. The current study intends to find the trend of leptospirosis cases, to forecast the disease and to correlate number of cases of leptospirosis with meteorological factors. Methods: The data of leptospirosis cases and the meteorological factors in Thrissur district were collected and entered in MS-Excel and statistical analysis was done using SPSS-16.0. For analysing the trend and to forecast the same, time series analysis method was used. The correctness of the model was tested using Ljung-Box statistics. Results: Time series chart, autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation show leptospirosis follows a seasonal trend. Forecasting of leptospirosis cases from July 2018 to May 2019 made by the model matched with original number reported in Thrissur district. Cross correlation of total rainfall and total rainy days showed that leptospirosis peak approximately 1 month after the onset or together with the rain (lag-1 and 0, r0.471 and 0.380 for total rainfall, lag-1 and 0, r0.501 and 0.469 for total rainy days). Humidity positively affects number of leptospirosis cases (lag-1 and 0, r0.464 and 0.435). June to October, seasonally adjusted factor (SAF) was >100% with highest SAF in August (202.2%). Conclusions: Leptospirosis shows a seasonal trend with more cases in June to October and correlates with change in meteorological factors of the region.

No abstract