Secondary attack rate in household contacts of COVID-19 Paediatric index cases: a study from Western India

Abstract

Background Role of pediatric cases in secondary transmission of COVID-19 is not well understood. We aim to study secondary attack rate (SAR) of COVID-19 in household contacts of pediatric index cases from Gujarat, Western Indian state. Methods For this cross-sectional study, details of 2412 paediatric patients were collected from Government records. Through stratified random sampling 10% (n = 242) of the patients were selected for the study and were telephonically contacted for obtaining the details of household secondary infection; 72 pediatric index cases having 287 household contacts were included in the study. Results The SAR in household contacts of pediatric index cases was 1.7% (95% CI: 0.74–4%). Majority of the index cases were males (94.4%) with 66% of the patients being admitted at various hospitals and isolation facilities (45%); 37% were home quarantine. Of 72, 50 (74%) cases were aged between 12 and 18 years. The family size of the index cases causing secondary infection was comparatively larger than index cases without secondary household infection (6.75 ± 2.3 versus 4.9 ± 1.9; P = 0.034). Conclusions The household SAR from pediatric patients is low and is closely associated with the family size of the index cases. Hence, home quarantine should be advocated in smaller families with appropriate isolation facilities.