Covid-19 killed many young people in Andhra Pradesh: Study

By Newsmeter Network  Published on  2 Oct 2020 3:50 AM GMT
Covid-19 killed many young people in Andhra Pradesh: Study

Vijayawada: A new study has revealed that more young people died of Covid-19 in Andhra Pradesh.

The research was led by Ramanan Laxminarayan, Director of the Washington-based Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy.

Based on the data collected from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh with high caseloads, the research provided a detailed view of COVID-19 transmission pathways and mortality in a high-incidence setting.

Reported cases and deaths have been concentrated in younger cohorts than expected from observations in higher-income countries, even after accounting for demographic differences across settings.

According to the researchers, both states began rigorous disease surveillance and contact tracing early in response to the pandemic. To reach the conclusion, Laxminarayan and colleagues analyzed surveillance and contract tracing data from these two states' programmes. Epidemiological data and laboratory test results were available from 575,071 tested contacts of 84,965 confirmed cases.

The authors noted that estimates of time-to-death in both states are rapid as compared to what has been observed internationally (for example 13 days to die from the date of hospital admission in the US, compared to succumbing to death within six days in the two Indian states, for about half of the cases ascertained in this study).

Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have one of the largest healthcare workforce and public health expenditures per capita and are known for their effective primary healthcare delivery models.

"Same-age contacts were associated with the greatest infection risk, a pattern strongest among children ages 0-14 years and among adults older than 65 years. The case-fatality ratios spanned 0.05 percent at ages 5-17 years to 16.6 percent at ages exceeding 85," the researchers wrote in the study published in the journal Science.

The results, from a study based on surveillance and contact tracing data, offer a window into the pandemic's trajectory in a low- and middle-income country, where most Covid-19 cases have occurred, and from which insights to guide control measures are urgently needed.

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