Assessment of Exposure to Factors Favoring Covid 19 Transmission among Medical Students in South Kerala during the First Wave of the Pandemic

Abstract

Transmission of SARS -Cov occurs primarily primarily between people through direct, indirect, or close contactwith infected people through infected secretions such as saliva and respiratory secretions. To prevent transmissionthere are several measures implanted by health authorities all over the world like social distancing, use of facemasks, hand washing or use of sanitizer, contact tracing and quarantine, isolation, etc. This study was intendedto determine medical students’ exposure (while at home due to lockdown) to environmental factors favoring thetransmission of Covid 19. After getting institutional ethical clearance a cross-sectional study was done among82 medical students. The mode of data collection was through google forms. The students were asked to report thefactors (already practicing) that favor covid 19 transmission to which they were exposed during the last 2 weeks.All the study subjects were tested for Covid 19 during the next 2-week period. Data were analyzed descriptivelyto find out the number and percentage. The median age of the sample was 22 years ( Q1 21, Q3 23). Comorbiditiesthat could favor covid 19 transmission were present in 12.2% of students. The percentage of students who visitedcrowded places in the last 2 weeks which could increase the risk of transmission ranged from 6 % to 29%. Socialdistancing was practiced by 51%, Wearing a mask was practiced by 62%, and using soap/sanitizer by 73% ofmedical students. Out of the total 82 medical students 4 tested positive for Covid 19. The study concluded thatexposure to risk factors of covid 19 transmission was optimum among medical students during the pandemicphase.