Indian Journal of Medical Research (Jan 2020)

Severe acute respiratory illness surveillance for coronavirus disease 2019, India, 2020

  • Nivedita Gupta,
  • Ira Praharaj,
  • Tarun Bhatnagar,
  • Jeromie Wesley Vivian Thangaraj,
  • Sidhartha Giri,
  • Himanshu Chauhan,
  • Sanket Kulkarni,
  • Manoj Murhekar,
  • Sujeet Singh,
  • Raman R Gangakhedkar,
  • Balram Bhargava,
  • ICMR COVID Team

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_1035_20
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 151, no. 2
pp. 236 – 240

Abstract

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Background & objectives: Sentinel surveillance among severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) patients can help identify the spread and extent of transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARI surveillance was initiated in the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in India. We describe here the positivity for COVID-19 among SARI patients and their characteristics. Methods: SARI patients admitted at 41 sentinel sites from February 15, 2020 onwards were tested for COVID-19 by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, targeting E and RdRp genes of SARS-CoV-2. Data were extracted from Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory Network for analysis. Results: A total of 104 (1.8%) of the 5,911 SARI patients tested were positive for COVID-19. These cases were reported from 52 districts in 20 States/Union Territories. The COVID-19 positivity was higher among males and patients aged above 50 years. In all, 40 (39.2%) COVID-19 cases did not report any history of contact with a known case or international travel. Interpretation & conclusions: COVID-19 containment activities need to be targeted in districts reporting COVID-19 cases among SARI patients. Intensifying sentinel surveillance for COVID-19 among SARI patients may be an efficient tool to effectively use resources towards containment and mitigation efforts.

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