Prevalence of COVID-19 in Bangladesh, April to October 2020—a cross-sectional study

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijregi.2021.10.003
• Publication Date: 2021-10-16T07:07:38Z
• Authors: Arifa Nazneen; Rebeca Sultana; Mahmudur Rahman; Mahbubur Rahman; Firdausi Qadri; Nadia Ali Rimi; Md. Kamal Hossain; Muhammad Rashedul...; Mustafizur Rahman; Nitai Chakraborty; Shariful Amin Sumon; Enayet Hussain; Md Zakiul Hassan; Sazzad Hossain Khan; Md. Hasnatuzzaman...; Arifur Rahman Bablu; Kajal Chandra Banik; Md. Habibullah Fahad; Marjahan Akhtar; Syed Moinuddin Sa...; Shahriar Ahmed; Ahmed Ehsanur Rahman; Taufiqur Rahman B...; A.S.M. Alamgir; Shams El Arifeen; Tahmina Shirin; Sayera Banu; Meerjady Sabrina ...
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Coronavirus (COVID-19) Collection; 3. Good health

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the proportion of symptomatic and asymptomatic laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases among the population of Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Dhaka City and other districts of Bangladesh between April 18 and October 12, 2020. A total of 32 districts outside Dhaka were randomly selected, and one village and one mahalla was selected from each district; 25 mahallas were selected from Dhaka City. From each village or mahalla, 120 households were enrolled through systematic random sampling. Results: A total of 44 865 individuals were interviewed from 10 907 households. The majority (70%, n = 31 488) of the individuals were <40 years of age. Almost half of the individuals (49%, n = 21 888) reported more than four members in their household. It was estimated that 12.6% (n = 160) of the households had one or more severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected individuals, among whom 0.9% (n = 404) of individuals had at least one COVID-19-like symptom, at the national level. The prevalence of COVID-19 in the general population was 6.4%. Among the SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals, 87% were asymptomatic. Conclusions: The substantial high number of asymptomatic cases all over Bangladesh suggests that community-level containment and mitigation measures are required to combat COVID-19. Future studies to understand the transmission capability could help to define mitigation and control measures.