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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide and presents an unprecedented challenge for healthcare systems worldwide. Earlier to SARS-CoV pandemic, coronaviruses were only thought to cause mild, self-limiting upper respiratory tract infections in humans. COVID 19 presents across a spectrum of symptoms. WHO recommends detection of unique sequences of virus RNA by Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) such as real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). The aim of this cross sectional study was analysis and confirmation of Nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swab specimen by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Material & Methods: This was a cross-sectional retrospective study that reviewed records of samples collected from June 2021 to March 2022. Nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swab specimen were collected from suspected COVID-19 subjects of various districts of Punjab and referred to Viral Research Diagnostic Laboratory [VRDL], Government Medical College [GMC], Amritsar for laboratory analysis and confirmation by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: During the present study, a total of 11,27,005 samples were analyzed from June 2021 to March 2022 for SARS-CoV-2 detection by ICMR approved COVID-19 RT-PCR kits. Out of total 11,27,005 cases, 24,466 cases (2.17%) were found to be SARS-CoV-2 positive while 11,02,539 cases (97.83%) were SARS-CoV-2 negative. Conclusions: Ever since the COVID-19 global pandemic emerged, the developing countries are facing challenges regarding its diagnosis. Isolation of the infected person will eventually decrease the Reproduction number i.e Ro which will further interrupt the transmission cycle leading to decrease in community spread.
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Background: SARS-CoV-2 infection poses tremendous challenge to the healthcare system of nations across the globe. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are crucial to the ongoing response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. During the course of their work, they are exposed to hazards that place them at the risk of infection. Serological testing for SARS-CoV2 among healthcare workers, which form a high risk group helps in identifying the burden of hidden infection in an institutional setting. The present study aims to investigate the seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 among HCWs during 1st and 2nd wave. Material & Methods: A prospective study was conducted at Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, Government Medical College, Amritsar during June July 2020 (1st wave)and April May 2021(2nd wave). During this period, 184 blood samples were collected from healthcare workers from Government Medical College and Hospital, Amritsar. Serum was separated and used for detection of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies by ELISA technique. Results: Out of the 184 samples, 79 (42.9%) were found to be seropositive. Higher seropositivity was seen i.e 60.8% during the 2nd wave (April-May 2021) as compared to 25% during 1st wave. The increase in seroprevalence was observed in almost all categories of HCWs, Doctors 44.4% vz 13.04%, nurses 54.8% vz 34.7%, lab technicians 72% vz 30.4% and housekeeping staff 72.2% vz 21.7%. Also the unvaccinated HCWs showed higher seroprevalence during the second wave and 87.5% of vaccinated HCWs had demonstrable IgG antibodies. Conclusions: High seropositivity was observed among healthcare workers due to their nature of work. Rise of seropositivity among unvaccinated HCWs during 2nd wave concludes that increase in seroprevalence was attributable to natural infection. The vaccine's immunological response was also highlighted in the study.
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Background: Severe acute respiratory illness due to SARS-CoV-2 represents great global public health concern. The spectrum of disease ranges from mild to life-threatening. Surveillance of hospitalized patients with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) is an important public health tool used to identify etiologies to understand the disease, track changes in circulating viruses and as an alert mechanism for potential pandemic viruses. We aim to find out the rate of SARS-CoV-2 positivity in SARI cases and further study the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients. Material & Methods: A Prospective study was conducted on 200 Severe Acute Respiratory Illness patients admitted at tertiary care hospital. The clinical, demographic, epidemiological, risk factors / co-morbidities of all the patients were recorded. Oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal samples were collected and tested for SARS-CoV-2 by real time reverse transcriptase (RT-PCR) test. Results: Out of 200 SARI patients, 51 (25.5%) were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Maximum cases (54.90%) were in the age group of 41-60 years;males were infected predominantly (52.94%). The most common symptoms of presentation were fever (100%), cough (86.27%), dyspnoea (82.35%) and sore throat (56.86%). Comorbidities associated with COVID-19 were Hypertension (56.86%), Diabetes Mellitus (33.33%), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (13.72%) and Coronary Artery disease (9.8%). More than 30% of the patients were admitted in ICU and 9.80% received mechanical ventilation. Conclusions: Evaluation of clinical and epidemiological profiles of SARI patients can help in understanding and managing the outbreak more efficiently. Close monitoring and quarantine will be required to prevent extensive transmission within the community.
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Background: COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARSCoV-2 virus. After a December 2019 outbreak in China, the World Health Organization identified SARS-CoV-2 as a new type of coronavirus. Currently, WHO recommends detection of unique sequences of virus RNA by rRT-PCR. ICMR also recommends use of CBNAAT using Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV2. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 detected through CBNAAT. Material & Methods: This retrospective study was conducted from July 2020 to December 2021 at VRDL, GMC, Amritsar. The study group consisted of all the patients presenting with symptoms of Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) who presented to hospital. The data was collected and subjected to statistical analysis. Results: During the present study, a total of 1,259 samples were analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 by CBNAAT from July 2020 to December 2021. Out of total 1,259 cases which were included in the study, 327 cases (25.97%) were found to be SARS-CoV-2 positive while 870 cases (69.10%) were SARSCoV-2 negative and 62 cases were found to be inconclusive. 62 inconclusive samples were further tested by RT-PCR. Out of which, 15 were RT-PCR positive and 47 were RT-PCR negative. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has put forward unprecedented challenge to the public health system across countries to prepare themselves for this current crisis which included isolation, contact tracing, quarantine and enforcement of a nation wide lockdown starting 25th March, 2020.
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The pandemic of COVID-19 disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 continues to be the global public health concern. While nations are taking extensive measures to contain the pandemic, several variants have been identified more recently due to mutations of the SARS -CoV 2 which make it highly contagious and well known source of multiple waves. A retrospective and observational study were conducted on 28,897 nasopharyngeal/ oropharyngeal swabs of patients consulted or hospitalized at tertiary care hospital. The Epidemiological, demographic & clinical details of all patients were recorded and the diagnosis of SARS- CoV 2 was done by real time reverse transcriptase reaction (RT-PCR). A total 4794(16.6 %) patients were tested positive for SARS CoV-2 & maximum cases (38.57%) were in age group 41-60 years;males (51.48%) were found to be predominantly infected .In year 2020 maximum positivity of SARS -CoV 2 were reported in the months of August & September (14.72%), then gradual decline from October to Feb 21 and then second wave lead to abrupt rise, 34.42% cases reported in the month of April- May 2021. More than 75% of positive patients were found to be symptomatic and the most frequent symptoms were fever (82.14%), cough (71.69%), and sore throat (43.5%). Severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) was detected in 38.06 % of positive cases & Influenza like illness (ILI) was reported in 11.28%. Fifty one (51) positive samples tested for whole genome sequencing, detected 56.8% B.1.1.7 lineage (alpha variant), (39.3%) B.1.617.2 lineage (delta variant) and 3.9% delta plus variants (A.Y 4 & A.Y 12). As the pandemic continues to unfold, there is need to analyse the epidemiogical & clinical characteristics of the patients infected with SARS CoV 2 and identification of ongoing variants of concern in the presence of new selection pressures such as vaccination.
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and its interpretation, a total of 3,47,418 samples from period of 01st April 2020 to 31st October 2020 were included in this study. Ribonucleic Acid amplification by Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) of SARS-CoV-2 from nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs of all individuals revealed confirmation of 17,920 positive samples. Total 2,29,310 males and 1,18,108 females were tested for the COVID-19 infection. Social science statistics online tool (https://www.socscistatistics.com/tests/) was used for χ2 test to analyse different parameters. results: Maximum number of COVID-19 positive patients was detected in 21 to 30 years age group (p<0.05). Highest positivity ratio of samples was observed in individuals exceeding the age of 50 years. Number of asymptomatic individuals was found to be quite higher than symptomatic individuals in total population. Overall percent positivity of asymptomatic individuals was 4.81% (p<0.00001), which accounts to 4.71% of total number of tested individuals in this study. conclusion: COVID-19 is an evolving disease and data from this study elucidates the epidemiological profile of the SARS-CoV-2 infection among population of Majha region of Punjab state of Indian subcontinent. Introduction: There are many types of coronaviruses that causes respiratory and intestinal infection in humans. Among these coronaviruses, is a group of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-like bat coronavirus, including both SARS-CoV and SARS-Cov-2 that comprise a unique clade under the subgenus Sarbecovirus. The SARS-CoV-2 strains in India are more closely related to bat-CoVRaTG13 (93% homology) than pangolin CoV (83.5% homology). India reported its first case of Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) on January 30, 2020. Punjab, a state in northwestern India comprises of 22 districts which are classified into three major distinct regions viz. Majha, Malwa and Doaba. Four districts of Majha region of Indian state of Punjab are Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Pathankot. Aim: The present study describes the SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology based on samples tested for this virus;received at Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL), Government Medical College, Amritsar-Punjab, India. Materials and Methods: This epidemiological study was designed taking into consideration three main factors i.e. the gender, the age groups and the factor whether the individual has any symptoms or not. To study their context of applicability