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Incidence of Symptomatic Covid-19 in Close Contacts of Patients After Discharge From Hospital Publisher Pubmed



Ahmadi A1 ; Poopak A2 ; Nazemi S2 ; Mohammadi N3 ; Eslami B4 ; Seyyedsalehi MS2 ; Doshmangir L5, 6 ; Allameh SF7 ; Zendehdel K2
Authors
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Authors Affiliations
  1. 1. Knowledge Utilization Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  2. 2. Cancer Research Center, Cancer Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  3. 3. Radiation Oncology Research Center, Cancer Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  4. 4. Breast Disease Research Center, Cancer Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  5. 5. Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
  6. 6. Department of Health Policy & Management, Tabriz Health Services Management Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
  7. 7. Department of Gastroenterology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Source: BMC Infectious Diseases Published:2022


Abstract

Background: There is a little evidence about the infectiousness of recovered COVID-19 patients. Considering that the circumstance of the isolation of the COVID-19 patients after-discharge is not always optimal, it is not very unlikely that viral transmission still occurs after hospital discharge. This study aims to investigate the incidence of symptomatic COVID-19 in close contacts of recovered patients after discharge from hospital. Methods: Four hundred fifty discharged COVID-19 patients discharged from the largest public treatment center in Tehran, capital city of Iran, were followed up. Demographic and clinical data of participants were collected from medical records. Follow-up data were acquired via telephone call interviews with patients or their main caregivers at home. Results: The study’s response rate was 93.77% (422 participated in the study). 60.90% patients were male and 39.10% were female (sex ratio = 1.55 male). The most prevalent comorbidities in these patients were hypertension (29.68%) and diabetes (24.80%). The mean of home isolation after discharge was 25.85. Forty-one (9.71%) patients had at least one new case in their close contacts, up to 3 weeks after they were discharged. There was a significant association between having at least a comorbidity with the odds of getting infected in close contacts [OR (CI) 2.22 (1.05–4.68)]. Density of inhabitant per room in a house’ and the quality of isolation had significant associations with observing new cases in the patients’ close contacts [high to moderate; OR (CI) 2.44 (1.06–5.61], [bad to good; OR (CI) 2.31 (1.17–4.59)], respectively. Conclusion: After hospital discharge, COVID-19 transmission can still occur, when a large number of people lives together in a single house. Another explanation can be that the less precaution measures are taken by recovered patients’ cohabitants. Such conditions are also likely to happen when the recovered patient has other chronic diseases and requires additional care. © 2022, The Author(s).