Clinico-Epidemiological Profile of Breakthrough COVID-19 Infection among Vaccinated Beneficiaries from a COVID-19 Vaccination Centre in Bihar, India.

BACKGROUND: When the whole world is fighting in an unprecedented pace against COVID-19 pandemic, the breakthrough COVID infections poise to dampen the rapid control of the same. We carried out this project with two objectives; first, to estimate the proportion of breakthrough COVID-19 infection among completely vaccinated individuals and second, to study the clinico-epidemiological profile of breakthrough COVID-19 infections among them. METHODS: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among 2703 fully vaccinated individuals from AIIMS, Patna COVID Vaccination Centre (CVC), Bihar, India. The participants were selected randomly using a systematic sampling technique from the list of beneficiaries maintained at the CVC. Telephonic interviews were made to collect the information by trained data collectors. RESULTS: A total of 274 fully vaccinated beneficiaries [10.1% (95% CI: 9.1%, 11.4%)] were diagnosed with breakthrough COVID-19 infection. The infections were more among males (10.4%) and the individuals aged ≤29 years (12.5%). The beneficiary categories, the healthcare-worker and the frontline-worker, were identified as predictors of the breakthrough COVID infections. Only one in three participants had adopted adequate COVID appropriate behaviour following the full vaccination. The majority of the breakthrough infections occurred during the second wave of COVID-19. The majority of the individuals with breakthrough infections were asymptomatic and no death was reported among them. CONCLUSION: One in every ten fully vaccinated individuals can get the breakthrough COVID infections. The healthcare-worker and the frontline-worker had independent risk of getting the breakthrough infections. Very few with breakthrough infections were serious and no death was reported among them.

Impact of Lockdown due to COVID-19 on lifestyle and diet pattern of college students of Eastern India: A cross-sectional survey.

Background: The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures to confine it has disrupted the routine of the public. The impact of such long-term confinements on the lifestyle and diet of students are not known and hence this study was designed to assess the impact of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the lifestyle and diet of university students. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey among 622 university students across various educational institutes of east India using a pre-designed questionnaire about lifestyle-diet before and during the lockdown. Results were tabulated and statistical tests like Paired t-test, Wilcoxon Rank sign test, and Mc-Nemar tests were applied and overall significance was attributed to P<0.05. Results: During the lockdown a total of 2.4% (95% CI: 1.4-3.8%) decrease in prevalence of tobacco use, 8.7% (95% CI: 6.6-11%) decrease in physical activity and a 0.8 hour (95% CI: 0.6-0.9 hour) increase in the mean sleep duration was observed. There was a significant increase in use of fresh fruits consumption [Median(IQR)-before:2(1-5);during:3(1-5) days] and a decrease in meat-poultry[Median(IQR)-before: 2(0-3);during: 1(0-3)days] and junk food[Median(IQR)-before:1(0-2);during:0(0-2)days] consumption during the lockdown. Conclusion: A significant proportion of changes in lifestyle and frequency of consumption of certain food items in the dietary pattern during the lockdown.

Pattern of Tobacco Use and Perceived Risk of COVID-19 Following Tobacco Use among the COVID-19 Patients of a Tertiary Health Care Institution in Eastern India.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 presented an unprecedented situation in which behavioural factors including tobacco use were believed to increase the risk of morbidity and mortality. The objective of the present study was to find the tobacco use pattern among the COVID-19 patients and the perceived risk of developing severe COVID-19 following tobacco use. METHODS: This hospital-based, cross-sectional, analytical study was conducted among 300 COVID-19 patients at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna, India, during November and December 2020 using a semi-structured, pretested questionnaire. Descriptive and univariate analyses were performed using statistical software and the results were presented as proportion and percentage. FINDINGS: About 27% and 16% of the COVID-19 patients were ever and current tobacco users, respectively. Quit attempts were found to have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. A majority (65%) of current tobacco users had reduced their amount of tobacco use. Nearly 2 in every 3 patients perceived high risk of developing severe COVID-19 following tobacco use. Perceived risk was significantly higher among tobacco non-users, patients who were aware of the ill health effects of tobacco use, and patients who had noticed anti-tobacco messages or had been advised to quit tobacco. Among the current tobacco users, a significantly higher proportion of patients who perceived high risk of developing severe COVID-19 following tobacco use had made quit attempts or had reduced tobacco consumption during the pandemic (76.7% vs. 40%; P = 0.032). CONCLUSION: A high proportion of COVID-19 patients believed that tobacco use aggravated the COVID-19 condition. Increased quit attempts and reduction in tobacco consumption during this pandemic is a positive sign for tobacco control.

Tobacco use pattern and quitting behaviour among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from a pan India online survey.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals (HCPs) have a definite role in tobacco control and can help immensely by setting examples. The current study aimed to study the tobacco use pattern and quitting behaviour among HCPs of India during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We addressed the research objective using a cross-sectional, anonymous online survey using 'google form" among 687 HCPs of India during December 2020. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using SPSS. RESULTS: Overall, 32.6% of the HCPs were ever tobacco user while 23.4% and 16.9% were current and daily tobacco user. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 51.7% and 43.1% of HCPs cut down the frequency and amount of tobacco use respectively while for 24.1% COVID-19 pandemic exerted no effect on their tobacco use. Presence of vulnerable population at home [ adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 17.5 (95% confidence interval (CI): 3.3-92.2)], ever tobacco quit attempt [AOR: 13.5 (95% CI:2.7-67.7)] and history of COVID-19 disease [AOR: 5.1 (95% CI:1.3-20.7)] significantly determined reduced tobacco use (60.3%) during the pandemic. Similarly, reduced tobacco use during the pandemic [AOR: 4.8 (95% CI:1.7-13.5)] and perception of both smoking and smokeless tobacco form to be harmful for COVID-19 [AOR: 4.8 (95% CI:1.7-13.5)] were the independent correlates of tobacco quit attempt (50.0%) during the pandemic. CONCLUSION: Tobacco use was quite rampant among the HCPs with every fourth and sixth being a current and daily tobacco user respectively. During the COVID-19 pandemic three in every five HCPs surveyed reduced tobacco use while every second HCP made a quit attempt.