Objectives Contact tracing and quarantine are common measures used in the management of infectious disease outbreaks. However, few studies have measured their impact on the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of those measures on reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a community setting. Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Methods A retrospective cohort study of COVID-19 cases notified in Eastern Porto from March 1 st to April 30 th , 2020 was performed. Intervention and control cohorts were defined based on whether cases were subjected to contact tracing and quarantine measures before the laboratory confirmation of disease. The number of secondary cases per index case and the proportion of cases with subsequent secondary cases were the primary outcomes. Secondary outcomes included the time from symptom onset to specimen collection and the number of close contacts. The analysis was stratified according to whether national lockdown measures had already been implemented. Results The intervention and control cohorts comprised 98 and 453 cases, respectively. No differences were observed concerning primary outcomes. The intervention group had a shorter time between symptom onset and specimen collection (median: 3 days, IQR 1-6, vs. median: 5 days, IQR 2-7, p-value=0.004) and fewer close contacts (median: 0, IQR 0-2, vs. median: 2, IQR 1-4, p-value<0.001). The stratified analysis returned similar results. Conclusion Local public health measures were effective in reducing the time between symptom onset and laboratory diagnosis and the number of close contacts per case. No effect was apparent on secondary case figures, suggesting that further measures may be required.

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Introduction: Peripheral arterial disease has an important impact on morbidity/mortality. The objective of this study was to quantify the impact of this disease in Portugal during the last eight years, expressed by the volume of admissions, treatment strategies and associated morbidity and mortality.Material and Methods: We collected data from the Diagnosis Related Group national database on primary diagnosis, procedures codes, demographic variables, a number of risk factors, and mortality of all cases admitted from 2009 to 2016 with a primary diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease coded according to the 9th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-9).Results: In this study, peripheral arterial disease led to 27 684 hospitalisations, which corresponded to 26.7% of all admissions for vascular disease in this period. Approximately 49.9% of patients were admitted to the emergency department. The volume of procedures in patients with claudication decreased over the eight years, unlike patients with critical ischaemia, in which the number of procedures increased.Discussion: Age and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors have been associated with the severity of disease, as observed in our series. Overall hospital mortality varied, being significantly higher in patients with more advanced severity of the disease.Conclusion: Peripheral arterial disease represents an important burden in the overall volume of admissions in Portuguese public hospitals. A large number of patients was admitted in the context of emergency.

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