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Epidemiological, virological and clinical features of SARS-CoV-2 among individuals during the first wave in Cameroon: Baseline analysis for the EDCTP PERFECT-Study RIA2020EF-3000.
- Source :
-
Journal of public health in Africa [J Public Health Afr] 2022 May 24; Vol. 13 (1), pp. 2142. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 May 24 (Print Publication: 2022). - Publication Year :
- 2022
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Abstract
- In Cameroon, COVID-19 infection spread rapidly and nationwide, with up to 721 deaths reported. To the best of our knowledge, no study reported the on-theground data using a large patients' dataset to give a comprehensive knowledge on COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon. The objective of this study was to shade lights on the epidemiological, virological and clinical features of COVID-19 in the Cameroonian context. An observational study was conducted among symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR on nasopharyngeal samples from April 22 <superscript>nd</superscript> , 2020 to January 5 <superscript>th</superscript> , 2021. Out of 14119 individuals (59.8% male), overall SARS-CoV-2 positivity was 12.7% (from 7.9% in <10 years to 17.3% in >60 years, p<0.001). The positivity rate of symptomatic individuals was 36.1% versus 9.8% among asymptomatic ones, p<0.001. Age group ≤10 [aOR (95%CI): 0.515 (0.338-0.784), p=0.002] and being symptomatic [aOR (95% CI): 5.108 (4.521-5.771), p<0.001] were predictors of SARS-CoV-2 positivity. Regarding PCR Cycle Threshold (CT), 53.8% of positive individuals had a CT <30. According to age, compared to older individuals, those aged 21-40 years showed a higher proportion with high viraemia (CT<20; 21.3% versus 12.5% respectively, p=0.003). Similarly, symptomatic individuals showed a higher proportion with high viraemia (22.4%), when compared to asymptomatic (13.9%); p<0.001. During this first wave of the pandemic, overall SARS-CoV-2 positivity remained high (>10%) and was associated with the presence of symptoms and older age. Most of the infection is among young and asymptomatic individuals, suggesting the " track-and-test" strategy should target these potential transmitters.<br />Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.<br /> (©Copyright: the Author(s).)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2038-9922
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of public health in Africa
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 35720804
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.4081/jphia.2022.2142