Control of an Epidemic of SARS-CoV-2 by Assessing Transmissibility of Its Infected Cases in Absence of a Suitable Vaccine

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 or Covid 19 and it’s pandemicity has been wreaking havoc in many countries worldwide. It is important to counter and contain the spread of Covid-19 using some effective infection control policies as we await an effective protection such as vaccine. Ahmedabad Model of Covid-19 Control could be used as an established epidemic management protocol due to COVID 19 infection. It relies on the Cycle Threshold (Ct) Value, which was used as a proxy marker for assessing initial viral load. It was evident that cases with higher viral load spread the disease at much higher rate compared to that of low viral load apart from population mobility and/or population density. Therefore, Ct value based segregation of infected cases with higher viral load along with contact tracing of them of previous 5 days is an effective epidemic control policy. It needs to be remembered that a section of infected cases is asymptomatic and capable of spreading infection in the community unknowingly. Hence, infection control practices must be accompanied with standard precautionary measures such as physical distancing, hand hygiene and wearing face mask. Community awareness is an integral part of it. Newer biotechnology based researches may be encouraged based on felt needs.