Document Type : Original Article
Authors
- Alireza Mirahmadizadeh 1
- Mousa Ghelichi-Ghojogh 2
- Fatemeh Rezaei 3
- Mehdi Nejat 4
- Haleh Ghaem 5
- Jafar Hassanzadeh 6
- Mohammadreza Karimi 7
- Zohre Khodamoradi 8
- Kimia Jokari 9
- Leila Jahangiry 10
1 Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
2 Metabolic Disorders Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran
3 Research Center for Social Determinants of Health, Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Jahrom, Iran
4 Health Affairs, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
5 Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
6 Research Center for Health Sciences, Institute of Health, Department of Epidemiology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
7 Technical Deputy of Vice-chancellery for Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
8 Department of Internal Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
9 Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
10 Department of Health Education and Health Promotion, School of Health, Medical Education Research Center, Health Management and Safety Promotion Research Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract
Background: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can be transmitted through direct, indirect, or close contact with infected people by contaminated respiratory droplets or saliva. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the secondary attack rate (SAR) in the cases’ close contact.
Methods: A total of 431 confirmed COVID-19 patients were randomly selected using systematic random sampling from 15 May to 13 June 2020. The required data were extracted from the CORONALAB database of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Detection of COVID-19 was performed using Real- Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and nasopharyngeal swabs. SAR was also calculated for different groups.
Results: Among the index cases, 64.27% were male, 24.80% were public sector employees, and 4.87% were admitted to the intensive care unit. In addition, most of them aged 30-39 years. The SAR was 11.56% (95% CI: 9.86% to 13.25%) in the close contacts. Accordingly, the highest SAR was observed among the friends, 19.05% (95% CI: 7.17% to 30.92%), followed by the spouses of COVID-19 cases, 16.67% (95% CI: 10.81% to 22.51%). Furthermore, diabetes (6.03%) and cardiovascular disease (5.1%) were the most common comorbidities among the index cases.
Conclusion: The findings suggested that the SAR was relatively lower among the close contacts. Considering the familial and non-familial relationships between the index cases and their close contacts were the major causes of disease transmission. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct tracing for COVID-19 contacts in all cases with whom patients have had close contact.
Keywords
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