Secondary attack rate of COVID-19 among contacts and risk factors, Tamil Nadu, March-May 2020: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics of contacts of patients with COVID-19 case in terms of time, place and person, to calculate the secondary attack rate (SAR) and factors associated with COVID-19 infection among contacts. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Contacts of cases identified by the health department from 14 March 2020to 30 May 2020, in 9 of 38 administrative districts of Tamil Nadu. Significant proportion of cases attended a religious congregation. OUTCOME MEASURE: Attack rate among the contacts and factors associated with COVID-19 positivity. RESULTS: We listed 15 702 contacts of 931 primary cases. Of the contacts, 89% (n: 14 002) were tested for COVID-19. The overall SAR was 4% (599/14 002), with higher among the household contacts (13%) than the community contacts (1%). SAR among the contacts of primary cases with congregation exposure were 5 times higher than the contacts of non-congregation primary cases (10% vs 2%). Being a household contact of a primary case with congregation exposure had a fourfold increased risk of getting COVID-19 (relative risk (RR): 16.4; 95% CI: 13 to 20) than contact of primary case without congregation exposure. Among the symptomatic primary cases, household contacts of congregation primaries had higher RR than household contacts of other cases ((RR: 25.3; 95% CI: 10.2 to 63) vs (RR: 14.6; 95% CI: 5.7 to 37.7)). Among asymptomatic primary case, RR was increased among household contacts (RR: 16.5; 95% CI: 13.2 to 20.7) of congregation primaries compared with others. CONCLUSION: Our study showed an increase in disease transmission among household contacts than community contacts. Also, symptomatic primary cases and primary cases with exposure to the congregation had more secondary cases than others.

Surveillance for face mask compliance, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, October-December, 2020.

PURPOSE: Government of Tamil Nadu, India, mandated the face mask wearing in public places as one of the mitigation measures of COVID-19. We established a surveillance system for monitoring the face mask usage. This study aimed to estimate the proportion of the population who wear face masks appropriately (covering nose, mouth, and chin) in the slums and non-slums of Chennai at different time points. METHODS: We conducted cross-sectional surveys among the residents of Chennai at two-time points of October and December 2020. The sample size for outdoor mask compliance for the first and second rounds of the survey was 1800 and 1600, respectively, for each of the two subgroups-slums and non-slums. In the second round, we included 640 individuals each in the slums and non-slums indoor public places and 1650 individuals in eleven shopping malls. We calculated the proportions and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) for the mask compliance outdoors and indoors by age, gender, region, and setting (slum and non-slum). RESULTS: We observed 3600 and 3200 individuals in the first and second surveys, respectively, for outdoor mask compliance. In both rounds, the prevalence of appropriate mask use outdoors was significantly lower in the slums (28%-29%) than non-slum areas (36%-35%) of Chennai (p<0.01). Outdoor mask compliance was similar within slum and non-slum subgroups across the two surveys. Lack of mask use was higher in the non-slums in the second round (50%) than in the first round of the survey (43%) (p<0.05). In the indoor settings in the 2nd survey, 10%-11% among 1280 individuals wore masks appropriately. Of the 1650 observed in the malls, 947 (57%) wore masks appropriately. CONCLUSION: Nearly one-third of residents of Chennai, India, correctly wore masks in public places. We recommend periodic surveys, enforcement of mask compliance in public places, and mass media campaigns to promote appropriate mask use.

Entry and initial spread of COVID-19 in India: Epidemiological analysis of media surveillance data, India, 2020.

BACKGROUND: India reported first laboratory-confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on 30 January from Kerala. Media surveillance is useful to capture unstructured information about outbreaks. We established media surveillance and described the characteristics of the COVID-19 cases, clusters, deaths by time, place, and person during January-March 2020 in India. METHODS: The media surveillance team of ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology abstracted data from public domains of India's Central and State health ministries, online news and social media platforms for the period of January 31 to March 26, 2020. We collected data on person (socio-demographics, circumstances of travel/contact, clinical and laboratory), time (date/period of reported exposures; laboratory confirmation and death) and place (location). We drew epidemic curve, described frequencies of cases by age and gender. We described available details for identified clusters. RESULTS: As of March 26, 2020, India reported 694 (Foreigners = 45, 6%) confirmed COVID-19 cases (Attack rate = 0.5 per million population) and 17 deaths (Fatality = 2.5%) from 21 States and 6 Union Territories. The cases were higher among 20-59 years of age (60 of 85) and male gender (65 of 107). Median age at death was 68 years (Range: 38-85 years). We identified 13 clusters with a total of 63 cases and four deaths among the first 200 cases. CONCLUSION: Surveillance of media sources was useful in characterizing the epidemic in the early phase. Hence, media surveillance should be integrated in the routine surveillance systems to map the events specially in context of new disease outbreaks.

Brain derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF) is associated with childhood abuse but not cognitive domains in first episode psychosis.

BACKGROUND: The Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) modulates cognitive processes and is associated with increased risk of schizophrenia. Childhood trauma (CT) is frequent in patients with psychosis and severely affects course and outcome. AIMS: We investigated the hypothesis that BDNF is associated with both CT and cognitive deficits in a sample of first-episode psychosis (FEP) cases and unaffected controls. METHOD: Participants with FEP and healthy controls were recruited between August 2008 and July 2011 from South London, UK. Childhood traumatic events were detected using the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA-Q). Neuropsychological data were also collected. BDNF plasma levels were measured from fasting blood samples. RESULTS: Data were available on 87 FEP patients and 152 controls. Our results showed a significant effect of separation (F=5.5; df=1,115; p=.02), physical (F=4.7; df=1, 118; p=.03) and sexual abuse (F=5.4; df=1,117; p=.02) on BDNF levels with lower levels among those who experienced the traumatic event compared to those who did not. Physical abuse predicted lower plasma levels of BDNF (ß=-.30; p=.03) whereas sexual and/or physical abuse showed a trend (ß=-.26; p=.06) in FEP patients but not in unaffected controls. No association between BDNF plasma levels and cognitive functions was found among patients with FEP and controls. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest the possible involvement of BDNF in the onset of first-episode psychosis in individuals exposed to early trauma and propose BDNF as a potential clinical biomarker to detect the detrimental effects of CT on human brain plasticity.