Descriptive epidemiology of COVID-19 deaths in the North Indian district Kangra of Himachal Pradesh

Authors

  • Saurabh Rattan Office of Chief Medical Officer, Kangra at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Priya Sharma Office of Chief Medical Officer, Kangra at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Chahat Gupta Civil Hospital, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Vikram Katoch Office of Chief Medical Officer, Kangra at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Gurdarshan Gupta Office of Chief Medical Officer, Kangra at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20214583

Keywords:

Deceased, COVID-19, Kangra, HP

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 first reported in January 2020 in China has turned into a pandemic the kind that occurs only once in a century, with high mortality rate due to an infectious disease considered once as a thing of past. Caused by SARS-CoV-2 (an RNA virus) COVID-19 has caused over 170 million cases worldwide and around 3.8 million deaths worldwide. India alone has suffered the wrath of this nasty virus with cases approaching 30 million and over 0.4 million deaths till date. Occurring in various waves, the pandemic situation remains dynamic and evolving even today.

Methods: We carried out retrospective analysis of all deaths due to COVID-19 occurring in district Kangra from March 2020 to June 2021. Descriptive data on all COVID-19 patients were collected and analysed including individuals who lost their life during the period.

Results: From 20 March 2020 to 30 June 2021, a total of 45,871 cases and 1037 deaths (2.2%) were reported in Kangra district-33.8% of 3463 deaths that occurred in the entire state. The death rate per million population in Kangra was 64 compared to 47 for Himachal Pradesh and 30 for India as a whole. The mean age was 62.5 years (range 01 to 102 years); males 62.7 years and female 62.2 years.

Conclusions: The biggest challenge for us as a country is that COVID-19 has penetrated into our densely placed population where practicing COVID-19 appropriate behaviour is merely an expectation that possibly can never be fulfilled despite most stringent of actions.

Author Biographies

Saurabh Rattan, Office of Chief Medical Officer, Kangra at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India

Distt Program Officer,Kangra

Department of Health & Family Welfare,HP

Priya Sharma, Office of Chief Medical Officer, Kangra at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India

Distt Consultant, Office of CMO,Kangra

NHM, Himachal Pradesh

Chahat Gupta, Civil Hospital, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India

Medical Officer,Department of Health & Family Welfare,HP

Vikram Katoch, Office of Chief Medical Officer, Kangra at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India

District Health Officer,Department of Health & Family Welfare,HP

Gurdarshan Gupta, Office of Chief Medical Officer, Kangra at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India

Chief Medical Officer, Kangra, Department of Health & Family Welfare,HP

References

Worldometer, COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Available at: https://www.worldometers.info/ coronavirus/. Accessed on July 25, 2021.

COVID19 India. Available at: https://www. COVID19india.org/. Accessed on July 25, 2021.

Nearly Half the People Who Have Died of COVID-19 in India Are Younger Than 60. Available at: https://science.thewire.in/health/india-COVID-19-mortality-comorbidities-age-health-ministry/. Accessed on 25 July 2021.

Bhaskaran K, Bacon S, Evans SJ, Bates CJ, Rentsch CT, MacKenna B, et al. Factors associated with deaths due to COVID-19 versus other causes: population-based cohort analysis of UK primary care data and linked national death registrations within the Open SAFELY platform. Lancet Regional Health-Europe. 2021;6:100109.

Arolas HP, Acosta E, López-Casasnovas G, Lo A, Nicodemo C, Riffe T, et al. Years of life lost to COVID-19 in 81 countries. Scientific rep. 2021;11(1):1-6.

Koh HK, Geller AC, Vander Weele TJ. Deaths from COVID-19. JAMA. 2021;325(2):133-4.

Jordan RE, Adab P, Cheng K. COVID-19: risk factors for severe disease and death. BMJ. 2020;368:m1198.

Prasad SK, Karahda A, Singh P, Gupta R. Role of mental health professionals in dealing with the stigma attached to COVID-19. General Psychiatry. 2020;33:5.

Jin JM, Bai P, He W, Wu F, Liu XF, Han DM, et al. Gender differences in patients with COVID-19: focus on severity and mortality. Frontiers in public health. 2020;8:152.

CDC. Coronavirus (COVID-19): symptoms of coronavirus. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2020. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/ coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html. Accessed on July 25, 2021.

Bwire GM. Coronavirus: why men are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than women? SN comprehensive clin med. 2020;2(7):874-6.

India today. 40% higher mortality seen in second COVID wave, says Max healthcare study. Available at: https://www.indiatoday.in/coronavirus-outbreak/ story/40-per-cent-mortality-rate-second-COVID-wave-mortality-higher-in-younger-patients-1820746-2021-06-29. Accessed on July 25, 2021.

Guan WJ, Liang WH, He JX, Zhong NS. Cardiovascular comorbidity and its impact on patients with COVID-19. Eur Respiratory J. 2020;55:6.

Downloads

Published

2021-11-24

How to Cite

Rattan, S., Sharma, P., Gupta, C., Katoch, V., & Gupta, G. (2021). Descriptive epidemiology of COVID-19 deaths in the North Indian district Kangra of Himachal Pradesh. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 8(12), 5879–5884. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20214583

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles