Epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cases among Indians residing in Kuwait

Jagan Kumar Baskaradoss 1, Aishah Alsumait 2, Shaheer Malik 3, Jitendra Ariga 4, Amrita Geevarghese 5, Roy Francis 2, Ajay Vazhiyodan 6, Rajesh Alexander 2, Pramod Menon 2, Sahar Behzadi 2, Fatma AlWuhaib 2, Fahad Al-Ghimlas 7, Mohammad AlSeaidan 7, Buthaina Almudhaf 7

Affiliations

doi: 10.26719/emhj.21.006

Abstract

in English, Arabic, French

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.

Keywords: COVID-19; Kuwait; SARS-CoV-2; contact tracing; epidemiology.

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KMEL References

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