ABSTRACT
Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 spreads, mainly, through close contact among people, hence the importance of detecting contacts of confirmed cases and identifying the mode of transmission between them. Objective: To identify the main modes of direct transmission among contacts of imported and autochthonous cases. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in two populations: the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Santiago de Cuba in the last quarter of 2020, and their declared direct contacts. In the search of the best representativeness, a two-stage stratified sampling method was used. The interview was used to collect the primary data;numbers and percentage, to summarize the information;the one-sample proportion hypothesis test and the compare proportions test using Minitab v.19, to identify possible differences across groups;and Microsoft Excel 2016, to produce the graphics. Results: The average number of contacts was higher among the autochthonous cases, prevailing the co-workers, neighbors and children. The contact-case relationship in imported cases was friend, driver, and mother or father-in-law;while in the autochthonous cases, it was son or daughter. Preventive actions were less used, and extra-domiciliary contacts of imported cases predominated. Contacts of imported cases were hospitalized more often, and had a higher proportion of asymptomatic than the autochthonous cases, but there was no significant differences. Conclusions: A differentiated pattern of transmission was not obtained;except that, transmission among autochthonous cases was between parent and child;while in imported cases, it was between friends. © 2022, Editorial Ciencias Medicas. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: COVID-19, a disease caused by the virus named SARS-CoV-2, was declared pandemic by the WHO in March 2020. Until 9 June Cuba had reported 2 211 cases and 83 deaths. Forty-nine of these cases were from Santiago de Cuba, for a lethality of 6.12.