Demographic and Clinical Profile of Patients with COVID-19 Infection during First and Second Wave in a Tertiary Care Hospital of South Assam

Abstract

BACKGROUND Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019 and since then has engulfed the entire globe at an unprecedented pace. The virus has infected all age groups, both males and females with or without symptoms and with significant variations. In this study, we wanted to analyse the data related to demographic features of COVID-19-infected patients mainly focusing on their age, gender and symptoms.  METHODS This was a hospital-based retrospective study that included all laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases which were declared SARS-COV-2 real-time RT-PCR positive by VRDL, SMCH, Silchar from March 2020 to August 2021. Data related to the demographic characteristics of patients with COVID-19 infection was retrieved from the ICMR-COVID-19 portal of the laboratory and analysed.  RESULTS The study included 8065 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases which involved 5605 cases during the first wave and 2460 cases during the second wave of COVID-19, diagnosed from different districts of South Assam. The majority of infected patients were of the younger age group of 20-30 years. The mean age of the patients was almost similar in both waves i.e. 35.9 and 38.4 years. Of the total enrolled patients, 91.7% were reported asymptomatic while 8.3 % were symptomatic with fever and cough being the commonest ones.  CONCLUSIONS The COVID-19 pandemic is a huge burden on healthcare facilities. The majority of the infected patients presenting to our hospital were young and asymptomatic, thus posing risk to the community. Hence, it is crucial to practice proper hygiene, wearing of masks and complete the vaccination schedule to achieve better vigilance to combat the COVID-19 pandemic more efficiently and effectively.