A Retrospective Clinico-demographic Study of SARS-CoV-2 Patients at a Tertiary Care Centre, Assam, North-East India during the Second Wave of the Pandemic

Abstract

Syed Tanwir Alam, Samrat Biswas, Sonuwara Begum, Mihirjyoti Pathak, Jasbeer Singh Roy, Pitambar Baishya and Kaushik Das

Assam along with the entire country of India experienced an unprecedented rise in SARS-CoV-2 infections and its fatal re- percussions. Our earlier study during the first wave of the pandemic provided insight into the relationship between age and gender in COVID-19 cases. The present follow-up study is a retrospective Clinico-demographic Study of 1110 SARS-CoV-2 Patients during the Second Wave of the Pandemic. Out of the 1110 positive cases studied during the peak of the COVID-19 second wave, a total of 624 (56.21%) infected individuals were male, and 486 (43.7%) individuals were female. However, individuals in the age group 18-30 showed significant infection of COVID-19 cases (p>0.00001) suggesting higher suscep- tibility in this age group irrespective of gender. In addition, the highest number of positive symptomatic cases in males were seen in the age group of 31-40 years followed by the age group of 18-20 years. The clinical profiles of all COVID-19-infected symptomatic patients were also analyzed. While females were more likely to experience symptoms like nausea, bodily aches, and abdominal pain (p< 0.0001*). Male patients were substantially more likely than female patients to experience chest pain (p = 0.0006) and diarrhea (p <0.0001*). Additionally, throughout the duration of the study, 115 samples were sent over for sequencing in which the delta variant [B.1.617.2] was found to be the most common strain during the Second Wave. Our re- search will add to the body of information that might help develop data-driven North-East India-centric recommendations to improve the preparedness to respond to similar future emergencies.

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