Secondary attack rate at 25% in Gandhinagar, only 2 deaths: Study

AHMEDABAD: In a study carried out by a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar (IIPH-G), the secondary attack rate (SAR) of Covid-19 is found to be 25% in the households under survey in Gandhinagar district. That means only 25% of the households reported more than one case after the primary infection. Out of the total, only two deaths are reported — both females.
The study has been submitted for publication and is yet to be reviewed, clarified the researchers.The research is titled ‘Secondary Attack Rate (SAR) in household contacts of expired primary cases of Covid-19: A study from Western India’. It is authored by Dr Komal Shah and Prof Dileep Mavalankar from IIPH-G and Nupur Desai, an MPH student from New York University.

The study took into consideration 28 confirmed Covid-19 deaths and traced a total of 108 contacts of these patients. Of the total, only 27 lab-confirmed Covid-19 positive cases were found, giving a 25% SAR. The mortality percentage in secondary cases was 7.4%.
“It is one of the first studies of Covid-19 severity impact in which we want to understand what happens to the families of the deceased patients,” said Dr Shah. “As the patients have died due to Covid-19, we can safely assume that they were the most affected by the infection.” Dr Shah went on to say: “The purpose of the study is to understand the SAR and its impact on close contacts. The need of the hour is also to understand the characteristics of severe patients in ICU and on ventilators.”