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 22nd, 2020 to January 5th, 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.
摘要:
在喀麦隆,COVID-19感染迅速在全国范围内传播,报告多达721人死亡。据我们所知,没有研究报告使用大型患者数据集的地面数据,以全面了解喀麦隆的COVID-19大流行。这项研究的目的是对流行病学的阴影,COVID-19在喀麦隆的病毒学和临床特征。从4月22日开始,通过PCR对鼻咽样本进行了一项观察性研究,对有症状和无症状的SARS-CoV-2进行了检测,2020年1月5日,2021年。在14119个人中(男性占59.8%),SARS-CoV-2的总体阳性率为12.7%(从<10年的7.9%到>60年的17.3%,p<0.001)。有症状个体的阳性率为36.1%,无症状个体的阳性率为9.8%,p<0.001。年龄组≤10[aOR(95CI):0.515(0.338-0.784),p=0.002]且有症状[aOR(95%CI):5.108(4.521-5.771),p<0.001]是SARS-CoV-2阳性的预测因子。关于PCR循环阈值(CT),53.8%的阳性个体的CT<30。根据年龄,与老年人相比,年龄在21-40岁之间的高病毒血症患者比例较高(CT<20;分别为21.3%和12.5%,p=0.003)。同样,有症状的个体表现出高病毒血症的比例较高(22.4%),与无症状相比(13.9%);p<0.001。在第一波大流行期间,总体SARS-CoV-2阳性仍然很高(>10%),并且与症状和年龄较大有关.大多数感染是在年轻和无症状的个体中,建议“跟踪和测试”策略应针对这些潜在的发射器。