ISSN: 2639-2038
Authors: Turabian JL*
Background: The presence of COVID-19 asymptomatic cases within the family could bias SARS-CoV-2 transmission study. Objective: To study the differences respect to certain chosen variables, between the index cases and secondary cases in families with asymptomatic cases and in families without asymptomatic cases. Methodology: An observational and retrospective study of families in which there was at least two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) confirmed COVID-19 cases -one primary case or index and one secondary case-, was conducted from March 15 to December 31, 2020, in a general medicine office in Toledo, Spain. Socio-demographic and clinical variables of the index cases and of the secondary cases were compared between families with asymptomatic cases and families without asymptomatic cases. Results: 109 people from 39 families were included. The primary cases of families with asymptomatic cases differed statistically significant from the primary cases of families without asymptomatic cases because they were more women, families with a greater number of members, and presented more respiratory symptoms. The secondary cases of families with asymptomatic cases would differ significantly from the secondary cases of families without asymptomatic cases due to being younger, having more students, more ethnic minorities, low-income households, less severe, and presenting more chronic musculoskeletal diseases. Conclusion: The characteristics of primary and secondary cases of COVID-19 in families differ depending on whether or not there are asymptomatic cases (which can be difficult to classify as secondary or primary), which can confuse the epidemiological results.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Asymptomatic Infections; Epidemiological Characteristic; Household Transmission; Second infection rate; Family Characteristics; Infection Chain
