Response and behaviors of West Bengal population towards Covid-19: An observation study

Abstract

Background: India observed asymptomatic Covid-19 in high frequency from the beginning of the pandemic. This, when added to the high burden of false negative (indeterminate) cases and the poor rate of testing (RTPCR), swelled the numbers of unreported Covid cases in the country. There is dearth of comprehensive data on the socio-demographic differences, symptoms, exposures, comorbidities, medications, preventive and testing behavior of Covid patients. Method: A online observational cross-sectional study was done in West Bengal using a snowball sampling method on a Google form. The collected data were classified into four groups, symptomatic and asymptomatic Covid, query-Covid (subjects having symptoms who did not test) and indeterminate group (subjects with symptoms who tested negative). And their differences were statistically analyzed. Results: Our data showed contact at public gatherings and direct contacts with Covid-affected patients are major mode of transmission. The query-Covid and indeterminate group displayed less
severe symptoms. Overall, multivitamins and vitamin-C were most commonly used for prevention. However, the queryCovid, and indeterminate group predominantly followed homeopathic preventive formulations; they also tended to practice self-medication seeking advice from social sources than doctors. They isolated themselves far less compared to Covid-patients. The behavior of refuting diagnostic tests in query-Covid and indeterminate cases were found related to less symptoms and a perception that test wasn’t necessary. Conclusion: Our study indicates socio-demographic, symptoms, exposures, testing, treatment, prevention, mask wearing behavior among the symptomatic, asymptotic, queryCovid and indeterminate group. This
helps to understand the reasons behind a huge burden of unreported Covid cases.