Estimating the proportion of Victorians infected with COVID-19 during the Omicron BA.1 epidemic wave of January 2022 in Australia.
Aust N Z J Public Health
; 47(1): 100007, 2023 Feb.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2209773
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To estimate the proportion of Victorians infected with COVID-19 in January 2022.METHODS:
Between 11-19 February 2022 we conducted a nested cross-sectional survey on experiences of COVID-19 testing, symptoms, test outcome and barriers to testing during January 2022 in Victoria, Australia. Respondents were participants of the Optimise Study, a prospective cohort of adults considered at increased risk of COVID-19 or the unintended consequences of COVID-19-related interventions.RESULTS:
Of the 577 participants, 78 (14%) reported testing positive to COVID-19, 240 (42%) did not test in January 2022 and 91 of those who did not test (38%) reported COVID-19-like symptoms. Using two different definitions of symptoms, we calculated symptomatic (27% and 39%) and asymptomatic (4% and 11%) test positivity. We extrapolated these positivity rates to participants who did not test and estimated 19-22% of respondents may have had COVID-19 infection in January 2022.CONCLUSION:
The proportion of Victorians infected with COVID-19 in January 2022 was likely considerably higher than officially reported numbers. IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH Our estimate is approximately double the COVID-19 case numbers obtained from official case reporting. This highlights a major limitation of diagnosis data that must be considered when preparing for future waves of infection.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Variants
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Oceania
Language:
English
Journal:
Aust N Z J Public Health
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
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