A cross-sectional study of the COVID-19 prevalence in Dir Lower, Pakistan

Abstract

The article investigates the prevalence of COVID-19 in the district Dir Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. A cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in January-June 2020. Samples were taken from suspected patients who visited the District Headquarters Hospital, Timergara (DHQHT), Dir (Lower). All the experimental work was conducted at the DHQHT pathology laboratory. The Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) was used for testing. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. This study examines 2718 individuals. COVID-19 confirmed cases totalled 1125 (41.39 %), with 10 fatalities (0.5 %). Males (829) had a higher prevalence of illness than females (296), with a p-value of (0.76). Positive cases were most prevalent among those aged 31–40 years (26.84 %), followed by those aged 41–50 years (15.02 %), those aged 0–10 years (3.91%), those aged 11–20 years (9.51%) and those aged 21–30 years (21.24%). Most of the COVID-19 cases were found in the tehsils of Timergara (534) and Lal Qila (118). The study's findings indicate a high rate of positive cases and a low mortality rate. This study will aid researchers, doctors and policymakers in their efforts to contain or eliminate the spread of COVID-19 in the study area.