Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infected population during the second and third epidemiological waves in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Objective: To analyze data on socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infected population whose samples were received from Medical Research Institute, Sri Lanka. Methods: Laboratory based retrospective study was done on patient samples which were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by National Reference Virology Laboratory at the Medical Research Institute, Sri Lanka, from November, 2020 to November, 2021. Data on socio-demographic characteristics and clinical presentation of 13 126 patients were examined. Results: The mean age of the study population was (36.0±7.2) years and the majority were men (64.0%). The highest number of positive cases were found in the 21-30 years-of-age group. Two distinct peaks were noted in the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals. In addition, 42.5% of the positive samples tested positive (42.5%) were from Medical Officer of Health collection centres. Furthermore, 60.6% (7 951) of the infected subjects were asymptomatic whereas the remaining were symptomatic. The highest percentage of symptomatic patients were observed in the 91-100 years-of-age group while the highest asymptomatic subjects were found in the 31-40 years-of-age group. The percentage of asymptomatic children (65.3%) was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of adults (43.4%). Conclusions: The findings of this study aid decision makers to focus on the vulnerable groups, and geographic and temporal distribution of patients in the public health strategies that aim at preventing the spread of the disease and reducinig its mortalities.

Keywords

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 / Socio-demographic / Clinical

References

[1] Jasinghe A, Wijewickrema A, Dhanapala S, Palihawadana P, Panapitiya PWCL, Arambepola C, et al. Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the confirmed COVID-19 patients in Sri Lanka. 2020. [Online]. Available from:https://ccpsl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Clinical-and-Epidemiological-Characteristics-of-first-100-COVID-19-patients-in-Sri-Lanka.pdf. [Accessed on 11 October 2022].

[2] World Health Organization. WHO health emergency dashboard. 2022. [Online]. Available from:https://covid19.who.int/region/searo/country/lk. [Accessed on 20 October 2022].

[3] Deville JG, Song E, Ouellette C. COVID-19: Clinical manifestations and diagnosis in children. 2022. [Online]. Available from:https://www.uptodate.com/contents/covid-19-clinical-manifestations-and-diagnosis-in-children. [Accessed on 11 October 2022].

[4] Herath M, Thusharika JMMP, Kumari PLMM, Acharige TAWW, Gunananthan K, June BPD, et al. Clinical and epidemiological characteristics and outcome of patients with Covid-19 in Sri Lanka; An observational study. 2020. [Online]. Available from:https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-42505/v1. [Accessed on 21 October 2022].

[5] King JA, Whitten TA, Bakal JA, McAlister FA. Symptoms associated with a positive result for a swab for SARS-CoV-2 infection among children in Alberta. CMAJ 2021; 193(1):E1-E9.

[6] Sohrabi MR, Amin R, Maher A, Bahadorimonfared A, Janbazi S, Hannani K, et al. Sociodemographic determinants and clinical risk factors associated with COVID-19 severity: A cross-sectional analysis of over 200 000 patients in Tehran, Iran. BMC Infect Dis 2021; 21(474):1-13.

[7] Ruan Q, Yang K, Wang W, Jiang L, Song J. Clinical predictors of mortality due to COVID-19 based on an analysis of data of 150 patients from Wuhan, China. Intensive Care Med 2020; 46:846-848.

[8] Leung K, Wu JT, Liu D, Leung GM. First-wave COVID-19 transmissibility and severity in China outside Hubei after control measures, and second-wave scenario planning: A modelling impact assessment. Lancet 2020; 395:1382-1393.

[9] Karagiannidis C, Mostert C, Hentschker C, Voshaaret T, Malzahn J, Schillinger G, et al. Case characteristics, resource use, and outcomes of 10 021 patients with COVID-19 admitted to 920 German hospitals: An observational study. Lancet Respir Med 2020; 8:853-862.

[10] Bailie K, Carson G, Dankwa EA, Docherty A, Donnelly CA, Fraser C, et al. COVID-19 report: 08 April 2020. International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Consortium (ISARIC). [Online]. Available from:https://media.tghn.org/medialibrary/2020/04/ISARIC_Data_Platform_COVID-19_Report_8APR20.pdf. [Accessed on 15 October 2022].

[11] Bwire GM. Coronavirus: Why men are more vulnerable to Covid-19 than women? SN Compr Clin Med 2020; 2(7):874-876.

[12] Tan J, Liu S, Zhuang L, Chen L, Dong M, Zhang J, et al. Transmission and clinical characteristics of asymptomatic patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Future Virol 2020; 15(6):373-380.

[13] Ma Q, Liu J, Liu Q, Kang L, Liu R, Jing W, et al. Global percentage of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections among the tested population and individuals with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open 2021; 4(12):e2137257.

[14] Oran DP, Topol EJ. Prevalence of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection: A narrative review. Ann Intern Med 2020; 173(5):362-367.

[15] Guan WJ, Ni ZY, Hu Y, Liang WH, Ou CQ, He JX, et al. Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in China. N Engl J Med 2020; 382(18):1708-1720.

[16] Ludvigsson JF. Systematic review of COVID-19 in children shows milder cases and a better prognosis than adults. Acta Paediatr 2020; 109(6):1088-1095.

[17] Gaythorpe KAM, Bhatia S, Mangal T, Unwin HJT, Imai N, Cuomo-Dannenburg G, et al. Children's role in the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review of early surveillance data on susceptibility, severity, and transmissibility. Sci Rep 2021; 11:13903.

[18] Machado MB, Fajardo TCG, de Oliveira LB, de Quadros Junior AC, Catalan DT, Piovesan KC, et al. Mild and asymptomatic coronavirus disease in children, adolescents, and household contacts and prolonged viral excretion. Int J Microbiol 2022; 2022:9.

[19] de Souza TH, Nadal JA, Nogueira R, Pereira RM, Brandão MB. Clinical manifestations of children with COVID-19: A systematic review. Pediatr Pulmonol 2020; 55(8):1892-1899.

[20] Phuong J, Hyland SL, Mooney SJ, Long DR, Takeda K, Vavilala MS, et al. Sociodemographic and clinical features predictive of SARS-CoV-2 test positivity across healthcare visit-types. PLoS One 2021; 16(10):e0258339.