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Population-Based COVID-19 Screening in Mexico: Assessment of Symptoms and Their Weighting in Predicting SARS-CoV-2 Infection.
- Source :
-
Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) [Medicina (Kaunas)] 2021 Apr 08; Vol. 57 (4). Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Apr 08. - Publication Year :
- 2021
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Abstract
- Background and Objectives : Sentinel surveillance in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico represented a significant cost reduction and was useful in estimating the population infected with SARS-CoV-2. However, it also implied that many patients were not screened and therefore had no accurate diagnosis. In this study, we carried out a population-based SARS-CoV-2 screening in Mexico to evaluate the COVID-19-related symptoms and their weighting in predicting SARS-CoV-2 infection. We also discuss this data in the context of the operational definition of suspected cases of COVID-19 established by the Mexican Health Authority's consensus. Materials and Methods : One thousand two hundred seventy-nine subjects were included. They were screened for SARS-CoV-2 using RT-PCR. The weighting of COVID-19 symptoms in predicting SARS-CoV-2 infection was evaluated statistically. Results : Three hundred and twenty-five patients were positive for SARS-CoV-2 and 954 were negative. Fever, asthenia, dysgeusia, and oxygen saturation predicted SARS-CoV-2 infection (odds ratios ranged from 1.74 to 4.98; p < 0.05). The percentage of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients was 36% and only 38.15% met the Mexican operational definition. Cq-values for the gene N of SARS-CoV-2 were significantly higher in asymptomatic subjects than in the groups of COVID-19 patients with neurological, respiratory, and/or musculoskeletal manifestations ( p < 0.05). Conclusions : Dysgeusia, fever, and asthenia increased the odds of a positive result for COVID-19 1.74-4.98-fold among the study population. Patients with neurological, respiratory, and/or musculoskeletal manifestations had higher viral loads at COVID-19 diagnosis than those observed in asymptomatic patients. A high percentage of the participants in the study (61.85%) did not meet the operational definition for a suspected case of COVID-19 established by the Mexican Health Authority's consensus, representing a high percentage of the population that could have remained without a COVID-19 diagnosis, so becoming a potential source of virus spread.
- Subjects :
- COVID-19 Testing
Humans
Mexico epidemiology
SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
Pandemics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1648-9144
- Volume :
- 57
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 33917858
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina57040363