Cases spike in India even as the government eases lockdown restrictions.
You're more likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, if you belong to a large family or live in a neighbourhood with a high poverty rate. A new study published in the journal JAMA has linked neighbourhood socioeconomic status and household crowding with increased risk of coronavirus infection.
Researchers from the Columbia University in the US studied 396 women who gave birth during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in New York City to determine the relationships between the viral infection and neighbourhood characteristics. All these women were tested for the virus.
They found that women who live in a neighbourhood with high household membership were three times more likely to be infected with the novel coronavirus. Living in a poor neighbourhood was also found to be another risk factor for COVID-19 infection. According to the study, women were twice as likely to get the viral infection if they lived in neighbourhoods with a high poverty rate. However, the researchers noted that as the finding is based on a small sample size, this relationship is not statistically significant.
Surprisingly, they found no association between the infection rates and population density. Although New York City has the highest population density of any city in the US, the risk of COVID-19 infection were related more to density in people's domestic environments rather than density in the city or within neighbourhoods, the researchers said. In fact, a recent study published in the Journal of the American Planning Association, had revealed lower COVID-19 death rates in dense areas.
The Columbia University researchers believe that their findings that SARS-CoV-2 infection rates are higher in poor neighbourhoods and among people who live in crowded households could help public health officials come up with better preventive measures.
The novel coronavirus virus spreads through respiratory droplets released when someone with the virus coughs, sneezes or talks. Current data suggests that it spreads easily among people during close contact (within about 6 feet, or 2 meters). Therefore, the risk factors of contracting the virus include:
In most cases, COVID-19 infection lead to mild to moderate symptoms. But the disease causes severe medical complications and even death in some people. People age above 60 and those with existing chronic medical conditions like diabetes, heart disease, weak immune system, are at greater risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19.
In severe cases, COVID-19 infection can cause pneumonia and trouble breathing, organ failure in several organs, heart problems, acute respiratory distress syndrome, blood clots, acute kidney injury, etc.
(With inputs from IANS)
