Epidemiological profile of SARS-CoV-2 among selected regions in Ghana: A cross-sectional retrospective study

Owusu, Michael; Sylverken, Augustina Angelina; Ankrah, Sampson Twumasi; El-Duah, Philip; Ayisi-Boateng, Nana Kwame; Yeboah, Richmond; Gorman, Richmond; Asamoah, Jesse Addo; Binger, Tabea; Acheampong, Godfred; Bekoe, Franklin Asiedu; Ohene, Sally Ann; Larsen‐Reindorf, Rita; Awuah, Anthony Afum Adjei; Amuasi, John; Owusu‐Dabo, Ellis; Adu‐Sarkodie, Yaw; Phillips, Richard Odame

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0243711

Cited by 20 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…However, contradictory results were found. Differences were observed but no significant viral-load difference among age groups was reported by several studies (Jacot et al, 2020;Kleiboeker et al, 2020;Owusu et al, 2020;Walsh et al, 2020). Partly agreeing with our result, Buchan B et al (Buchan et al, 2020) found significantly lower CT values in the 80-89 age group.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2 in the First Batch of COVID-19 Patients in China by a Self-Developed Rapid IgM-IgG Test

Weng

et al. 2022

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

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It has been over two years since the COVID-19 pandemic began and it is still an unprecedented global challenge. Here, we aim to characterize the antibody profile from a large batch of early COVID-19 cases in China, from January – March 2020. More than 1,000 serum samples from participants in Hubei and Zhejiang province were collected. A series of serum samples were also collected along the disease course from 70 patients in Shanghai and Chongqing for longitudinal analysis. The serologic assay (ALLtest) we developed was confirmed to have high sensitivity (92.58% - 97.55%) and high specificity (92.14% - 96.28%) for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid-specific antibodies. Confirmed cases found in the Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HBCDC), showed a significantly (p = 0.0018) higher positive rate from the ALLtest than RNA test. Then, we further identified the disease course, age, sex, and symptoms that were correlating factors with our ALLtest results. In summary, we confirmed the high reliability of our ALLtest and its important role in COVID-19 diagnosis. The correlating factors we identified will require special attention during future clinical application.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2 in the First Batch of COVID-19 Patients in China by a Self-Developed Rapid IgM-IgG Test

Weng

et al. 2022

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

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“…This study showed that the presence of comorbidity and clinical symptoms have a direct association with disease status, as reported in several studies in Ghana [16,17]. The majority of the patients showed symptoms (64%), predominantly with cough, headache, general weakness, fever, and sore throat, among others; this is a finding similar to other studies [17,18].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Comparable Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Sputum and Oropharyngeal Swab Samples of Suspected COVID-19 Patients

Akowuah

Acheampong²,

Ayisi-Boateng³

et al. 2022

COVID

Self Cite

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The accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 through respiratory sampling is critical for the prevention of further transmission and timely initiation of treatment. There is a diverse range of SARS-CoV-2 detection rates in reported studies, with uncertainty regarding the optimal sampling method for COVID-19 diagnosis and monitoring. Oropharyngeal sampling (OPS) is one of the most commonly used methods of respiratory sampling in Ghana and other parts of the world for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA. However, this sampling technique has a number of drawbacks, which include difficulty in obtaining high-quality swab samples, increased risk of infection to healthcare workers, and increased cost from a regular supply of swabs, transport media, and personal protective equipment (PPE). This study, therefore, sought to evaluate the diagnostic performance of sputum specimens in the diagnosis of COVID-19. This was a cross-sectional analytical study conducted in two health facilities in Kumasi, Ghana, between April and September 2021. Paired samples (an oropharyngeal swab and sputum) were taken from each recruited patient and run concurrently for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 genes (the N and ORF1ab genes) using RT-qPCR. Of the 317 patients recruited, 50.8% were males, and 60.4% were young adults aged 20–39 years. A significant proportion (65.9%) of the patients did not have any co-morbidity, and the majority were with symptoms; predominantly cough (36.3%), headache (31.5%), general weakness (24.0%), fever (20.2%), and sore throat (16.1%). Being symptomatic (p = 0.003), having comorbidity (p = 0.001), and the reporting facility (p = 0.010) were significantly associated with the COVID-19 status. The sputum samples yielded more COVID-positive, 120/317 (37.9%), as compared to OPS, 83/317 (26.2%). The sputum samples were 85.5% (95% CI, 76.4–91.5) sensitive, 79.1% (95% CI, 73.4–83.7) specific, and with positive and negative predictive values of 59.2% and 93.9%, respectively, when compared with OPS. The overall median of the SARS-CoV-2 viral loads for sputum (3.70 × 103 copies/mL) were significantly higher than in OPS (1.18 × 102 copies/mL) (p = 0.003). Findings from the study suggest self-collected sputum as a useful alternative to OPS for the diagnosis of COVID-19, providing a comparable diagnostic performance and, thereby, easing the uncomfortable process and mitigating risk of aerosol transmission to healthcare workers.

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“…Individuals between the ages 21 -30 years recorded the highest number of infections (3144; 33.4%). There was significant association between gender or age and infection with SARS-CoV-2 (p < 0.05) [9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…It was also in contrast to the study included some regions of Ghana in which males were mostly infected (4897; 51.5%) compared to females. Individuals between the ages 21 -30 years recorded the highest number of infections (3144, 33.4%) with significant association between gender or age and infection with SARSCoV-2 (p < 0.05) [9]. Among age groups, the highest positive rate was recorded in patients aged 25 -34 years old (706; 18.15%) which was higher in females (406; 57.5%) than in males (300; 42.5%).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and Emergence of UK Variant in Zintan City of Libya

Kammon¹,

Giweli²,

Erhouma³

et al. 2021

OJEpi

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Introduction: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. The disease was first broke out in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China and subsequently spread to all countries and was considered by WHO as a worldwide pandemic. This study is aimed to determine the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and the presence of UK variants in Zintan city of Libya taking some risk factors into account. Methods: In a cross-sectional retrospective study, a total of 15486 nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from COVID-19 suspected patients, travelers and people need disease-free certificates for hospital admission, etc. The samples were collected during the period from August 2020 to June 2021 and tested using real-time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR) kits for SARS-CoV-2 and UK variants. Age groups, sex, and monthly weather were considered as risk factors. Results: The positivity rate of COVID-19 in Zintan city was estimated to be (3891; 25.12%) for the period from August 2020 to June 2021. Females showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher positivity rate (2100; 54%) as compared to males (1791; 46%). Out of the 3891 positive cases, 52 were deceased. The Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was 1.33 recorded significantly in cases aged ≥ 65 years which was higher in males (56.66%) than females (43.33%). The peak of the first wave of infection was recorded in October 2020 (590; 15.15%) whereas the peak of the second wave of infection was recorded in April 2021 (727; 18.71%). The positivity rate was decreased as the temperature increased. UK variant is detected firstly in May 2021 with the percentage of 6.2% of tested samples. Conclusions: Health Authorities are encouraged to continue implementing the control measures during the de-

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Epidemiological profile of SARS-CoV-2 among selected regions in Ghana: A cross-sectional retrospective study

Cited by 20 publications

References 29 publications

Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2 in the First Batch of COVID-19 Patients in China by a Self-Developed Rapid IgM-IgG Test

Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2 in the First Batch of COVID-19 Patients in China by a Self-Developed Rapid IgM-IgG Test

Comparable Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Sputum and Oropharyngeal Swab Samples of Suspected COVID-19 Patients

Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and Emergence of UK Variant in Zintan City of Libya

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