COVID-19 positive cases among asymptomatic individuals during the second wave in Ndola, Zambia.

IF 1 Q4 MEDICINE, RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL African Journal of Laboratory Medicine Pub Date : 2023-05-31 eCollection Date: 2023-01-01 DOI:10.4102/ajlm.v12i1.2119

Jonathan Gwasupika, Victor Daka, Justin Chileshe, Moses Mukosha, Steward Mudenda, Bright Mukanga, Ruth L Mfune, Gershom Chongwe

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Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a worldwide public health concern for healthcare workers. About 80% of cases appear to be asymptomatic, and about 3% may experience hospitalisation and later die. Less than 20% of studies have looked at the positivity rate of asymptomatic individuals.

Objective: This study investigated the COVID-19 positivity rates among asymptomatic individuals during the second COVID-19 wave at one of Zambia's largest testing centre.

Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted on routine surveillance and laboratory data at the Tropical Diseases Research Centre COVID-19 laboratory in Ndola, Zambia, from 01 December 2020 to 31 March 2021. The study population was made up of persons that had tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection as a requirement for travel. Microsoft Excel was used to come up with an epidemiological curve of daily COVID-19 positive cases; proportions for gender were described using frequencies and percentages.

Results: A total of 11 144 asymptomatic individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2 were sampled for the study and 1781 (16.0%) returned positive results. The median age among those tested was 36 years (interquartile range: 29-46). Testing for COVID-19 peaked in the month of January 2021 (37.4%) and declined in March 2021 (21.0%). The epidemiological curve showed a combination of continuous and propagated point-source transmission.

Conclusion: The positivity rate of 16.0% among asymptomatic individuals was high and could imply continued community transmission, especially during January 2021 and February 2021. We recommend heightened testing for SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic individuals.

What this study adds: This study adds critical knowledge to the transmission of COVID-19 among asymptomatic travellers who are usually a key population in driving community infection. This knowledge is critical in instituting evidence-based interventions in the screening and management of travellers, and its control.

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赞比亚恩多拉第二波传播期间无症状者中的 COVID-19 阳性病例。

背景：2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）是全球医护人员关注的公共卫生问题。约80%的病例似乎没有症状，约3%的病例可能会住院治疗，随后死亡。只有不到20%的研究调查了无症状个体的阳性率：本研究调查了在赞比亚最大的检测中心之一进行的第二次 COVID-19 检测中无症状者的 COVID-19 阳性率：这是一项回顾性横断面研究，研究对象是2020年12月1日至2021年3月31日期间赞比亚恩多拉热带病研究中心COVID-19实验室的常规监测和实验室数据。研究对象为根据旅行要求接受过严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）感染检测的人员。研究人员使用 Microsoft Excel 绘制了 COVID-19 阳性病例的流行病学曲线，并使用频率和百分比描述了性别比例：研究共对 11 144 名无症状者进行了 SARS-CoV-2 检测，其中 1 781 人（16.0%）的检测结果呈阳性。接受检测者的年龄中位数为 36 岁（四分位数间距：29-46）。COVID-19 检测在 2021 年 1 月达到高峰（37.4%），在 2021 年 3 月有所下降（21.0%）。流行病学曲线显示出持续传播和点源传播的结合：结论：无症状个体的阳性率高达 16.0%，可能意味着持续的社区传播，尤其是在 2021 年 1 月和 2021 年 2 月。我们建议加强对无症状人群的 SARS-CoV-2 检测：这项研究增加了有关 COVID-19 在无症状旅行者中传播的重要知识，而无症状旅行者通常是导致社区感染的关键人群。这些知识对于在旅行者的筛查和管理及其控制方面采取循证干预措施至关重要。

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来源期刊

African Journal of Laboratory Medicine MEDICINE, RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL-

CiteScore

1.70

自引率

9.10%

发文量

审稿时长

12 weeks

期刊介绍： The African Journal of Laboratory Medicine, the official journal of ASLM, focuses on the role of the laboratory and its professionals in the clinical and public healthcare sectors,and is specifically based on an African frame of reference. Emphasis is on all aspects that promote and contribute to the laboratory medicine practices of Africa. This includes, amongst others: laboratories, biomedical scientists and clinicians, medical community, public health officials and policy makers, laboratory systems and policies (translation of laboratory knowledge, practices and technologies in clinical care), interfaces of laboratory with medical science, laboratory-based epidemiology, laboratory investigations, evidence-based effectiveness in real world (actual) settings.