Distribution of COVID-19 by Sex and Age Groups and Its Association with Travel and Contact History: An Overview of Early Epidemic
Hamzullah Khan *
Department of Pathology, Nowshera Medical College, Nowshera, Pakistan.
Zahid Khan
Department of General Surgery, Qazi Hussain Ahmed Medical Complex, Nowshera, Pakistan.
Saadullah Afridi
Director Sarhad Institute of Health Sciences, Sarhad University Peshawar, Pakistan.
Fazli Bari
Department of Microbiology, Chairman Infection Control Committee, Nowshera Medical College, Nowshera, Pakistan.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Objectives: To determine the frequency of COVID-19 and its association with age, gender, travel and exposure.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in COVID-19 clinic, Qazi Hussain Ahmed Medical Complex, Nowshera, from February 2020 to April 2020. A total of 260 suspects were included under strict criteria. Patients received in general OPD and emergencies were excluded. Data was entered in a format in SPSS version 25 for analysis and reporting. Descriptive, inferential and correlation statistics were used.
Results: Out of a total 260 of suspects/patients, 66(25.4%) females and 194(74.6%) were males. The nasopharyngeal swabs of 63(24.23%) cases were sent for viral detection selected for PCR testing on the bases of a scoring system. Out of 63 cases 18(6.92%) were COVID-19 positive, 32(12.30%) negative and results of 12(4.61%) were still awaited. The estimated relative risk in male gender was rr=1.08, 95%CI, 0.77-1.55 and in age group>60 years was rr=2.27, 95%CI, 1.35-5.14. There was a positive statistically significant correlation of disease in patients with contact and travel history (p=0.05, rho=0.12; p=0.001, rho=0.34), respectively.
Conclusion: The results suggest that the age>50 years has higher susceptibility for COVID-19. Similarly, infectivity with 2019-nCoV has a statistically significant correlation with travel history, contact history and age.
Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, epidemiology, etiological factor.