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A case-control study, completed earlier this month, provides the first national clues about the contexts in which there appears to be a higher probability of becoming infected. This type of investigation was initially announced in July by the Minister of Health, when doubts began to arise about the role of public transport in the infections, which increased more significantly in Lisbon after deflation. At the meeting of experts that took place in September, Henrique Barros, from the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto, had already presented the work methodology, which would involve questioning a thousand infected people and a thousand controls, people with similar profiles who do not they were infected. , to understand the hot spots of contagion. The conclusions of the study were presented this Thursday at the resumption of the meetings of experts in Infarmed.
By analyzing the questionnaires, the researchers concluded that attending gyms or living in more crowded homes are factors associated with an increased risk of infection with the new coronavirus.
The study was carried out in the Lisbon and Vale do Tejo region and involved 782 people infected with SARS-CoV-2 and the information gathering took place between October 2 and November 6. Almost half of those infected (47.6%) had attended higher education, reports the Lusa agency, and a large majority said they went to the gym at least once a week (96.5%).
“We asked the exposure in the last 14 days in the case of controls [pessoas que não desenvolvem a infecção] and the 14 days prior to the diagnosis, when we were questioning the cases of people with the infection, we asked the hours they were in gyms, shopping centers, restaurant structures, ”Henrique de Barros explained to the news agency. Study participants were also asked if they used public transportation, worked remotely, or practiced in the workplace, Lusa says.
“There are obvious differences in the frequency of these exposures between controls, say in the general population, and people who had developed the infection and the frequency of gym was higher in those who developed the infection,” said the epidemiologist. The frequency of shopping malls and restaurants was higher in people who did not develop the infection.
“The use of at least once in the last 14 days of public transport was higher in people who presented as cases of infection and telework was much higher among controls who did not have infection,” said the researcher. The use of transport was also higher in those infected.
With the values adjusted for sex, age, nationality and level of education or education, gyms continue to be the most frequent context among those infected, Henrique Barros concluded.
“Exposure to shopping centers and restaurants is more frequent among those who have not developed the infection,” said Henrique de Barros, who added that “teleworking is clearly and significantly more frequent among people who have not developed the infection.”
The study also identified that people who work in the care of the elderly and healthcare professionals are at increased risk of infection. In these estimates, it is the two professions that clearly remain at higher risk and therefore require greater attention and, conversely, higher education students are even at reduced risk, as are retirees compared to people who work actively ”, he added. .
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