Epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infection in households of schoolchildren from three educational institutions in Asunción and the Central department between October and November 2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53732/rccsalud/2023.e5121Keywords:
COVID-19, schools, Paraguay, epidemiologic study characteristicsAbstract
Introduction. Characterizing the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in the community can provide useful data for the authorities in making decisions on the educational institutions in Paraguay. Objective. To describe the epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the homes of schoolchildren from three institutions in Asunción and the Central Department. Materials and Methods. Cross-sectional descriptive study carried out between October 25 and November 5, 2021. Structured surveys were applied to parents or guardians of schoolchildren through a questionnaire in the format of the Google form sent through WhatsApp from the Directorate of the educational institutions. The questionnaire included questions about the number of household members, demographic data of the respondent, number of people with co-morbidity, people with COVID-19, need of hospitalization, number of death and vaccinated against COVID-19. Results. Data from 780 households were obtained, 379 (48.6%) from San Lorenzo, 217 (27.8) from Limpio, 93 (11.9%) from Asunción and 91 from other localities from Central (11.7%); 18.6% (731/3920) of household members had COVID-19, of them 9.7% (71/731) were hospitalized. Mortality rate was 0.79% (31/3920) and lethality 4.2% (31/731). 52.7% (2,340/3,920) were already vaccinated against COVID-19 and 88.2% (2,065/2,340) of them fully vaccinated. Conclusion. The prevalence of infection was within the expected range for symptomatic COVID-19 infections with a high rate of intradomiciliary transmission. Both the hospitalization and fatality rates were within the range for the country.
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