The first COVID-19 death in eastern Uttar Pradesh sparked a “super spreader event”, according to a study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR) by scientists of the the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The study also warns of the potency of “asymptomatic carriers” and the importance of contact tracing, quarantining to break the transmission chain.

The ICMR study was done in Basti, Uttar Pradesh, where the first COVID-19 death, on March 30, of a 25-year-old man was reported. From May 12-31, scientists then interviewed the individuals contacts, relatives, associates and also followed up with those who had attended the man’s funeral.

All of them were swabbed to check for presence of the virus as well and case histories of family members, who had been tested by district authorities, were also extracted.

Transmission chain

The deceased had infected three others in his seven-member family and at his funeral, that was attended by 50 people from where seven were confirmed positive. The scientists couldn’t establish the exact chain of transmission, that is who infected how many others and whom, but could trace 16 RT-PCR (rapid polymerase chain reaction test) cases to the index case who had died.

“The index case had associated co-morbidities and succumbed to death. Most of the cases were asymptomatic except two individuals, who developed mild symptoms,” say the scientists in their article that appeared online Monday, ahead of print, in the peer-reviewed journal.

“The funeral acted as a super spreader event for the transmission of infection among family members, relatives and others. Active contact tracing and confirmation of infection among the contacts led to the isolation of 16 SARS-CoV-2 positive cases and hence the limited spread of the disease.”