Open AccessEpidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cases among Indians residing in Kuwait
Author(s) -
Jagan Kumar Baskaradoss,
Aishah Alsumait,
Shaheer Malik,
Jitendra Ariga,
Amrita Geevarghese,
Roy G. Francis,
Ajay Vazhiyodan,
Rajesh Alexander,
Pramod Me,
Sahar Behzadi,
Fatma AlWuhaib,
Fahad Al-Ghimlas,
Mohammad AlSeaidan,
Buthaina Almudhaf
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
eastern mediterranean health journal/eastern mediterranean health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1687-1634
pISSN - 1020-3397
DOI - 10.26719/emhj.21.006
Subject(s) - contact tracing , medicine , interquartile range , epidemiology , asymptomatic , covid-19 , christian ministry , demography , casual , pandemic , pediatrics , disease , surgery , infectious disease (medical specialty) , philosophy , materials science , theology , sociology , composite material
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has rapidly spread to most countries around the world. Disproportionate spread of COVID-19 among the Indian community in Kuwait prompted heightened surveillance in this community. Aims: To study the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 patients and their contacts among the Indian community in Kuwait. Methods: Data collection was done as a part of contact tracing efforts undertaken by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health. Results: We analysed contact-tracing data for the initial 1348 laboratory-confirmed Indian patients and 6357 contacts (5681 close and 676 casual). The mean (standard deviation) age of the patients was 39.43 (10.5) years and 76.5% of the cases were asymptomatic or had only mild symptoms. Asymptomatic patients were significantly older [40.05 (10.42) years] than patients with severe symptoms [37.54 (10.54) years] (P = 0.024). About 70% of the patients were living in shared accommodation. Most of the close contacts were living in the same household, as compared with casual contacts, who were primarily workplace contacts (P < 0.001). Among the different occupations, healthcare workers had the highest proportion of cases (18.4%). Among the 216 pairs of cases with a clear relationship between the index and secondary cases, the mean serial interval was estimated to be 3.89 (3.69) days, with a median of 3 and interquartile range of 1–5 days. Conclusion: An early increase in the number of COVID-19 cases among the Indian community could be primarily attributed to crowded living conditions and the high proportion of healthcare workers in this community.