Abstract:
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) officially reports low coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) prevalence. This cross-sectional study, conducted between September and November 2021, assessed the COVID-19 seroprevalence in people attending Goma\'s two largest markets, Kituku and Virunga. A similar study in a slum of Bukavu overlapped for 1 month using identical methods. COVID-19-unvaccinated participants (n = 796 including 454 vendors and 342 customers, 60% of whom were women) were surveyed. The median age of vendors and customers was 34.2 and 30.1 years, respectively. The crude and adjusted anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence rates were 70.2% (95% CI 66.9-73.4%) and 98.8% (95% CI 94.1-100%), respectively, with no difference between vendors and customers. COVID-19 symptoms reported by survey participants in the previous 6 months were mild or absent in 58.9% and 41.1% of participants with anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, respectively. No COVID-19-seropositive participants reported hospitalisation in the last 6 months. These findings are consistent with those reported in Bukavu. They confirm that SARS-CoV-2 spread without causing severe symptoms in densely populated settlements and markets and suggest that many COVID-19 cases went unreported. Based on these results, the relevance of an untargeted hypothetical vaccination programme in these communities should be questioned.
摘要:
刚果民主共和国(DRC)正式报告冠状病毒病19(COVID-19)患病率较低。这项横断面研究,在2021年9月至11月间进行,评估了参加戈马两个最大市场的人群的COVID-19血清阳性率,Kituku和维龙加.在布卡武贫民窟中进行的一项类似研究使用相同的方法重叠了1个月。未接种COVID-19疫苗的参与者(n=796,包括454家供应商和342家客户,其中60%是女性)进行了调查。供应商和客户的年龄中位数为34.2岁和30.1岁,分别。粗和调整后的抗SARS-CoV-2抗体血清阳性率分别为70.2%(95%CI66.9-73.4%)和98.8%(95%CI94.1-100%),分别,供应商和客户之间没有区别。调查参与者在过去6个月中报告的COVID-19症状在58.9%和41.1%的具有抗SARS-CoV-2抗体的参与者中轻度或不存在,分别。在过去的6个月中,没有COVID-19血清反应阳性的参与者报告住院。这些发现与布卡武报告的结果一致。他们证实SARS-CoV-2在人口稠密的定居点和市场中传播而没有引起严重症状,并表明许多COVID-19病例没有报告。基于这些结果,在这些社区中,无目标的假设疫苗接种计划的相关性应该受到质疑。