Love in the time of COVID-19: negligence in the Nicaraguan response

Mather, Thais P Salazar; Marin, Benjamin Gallo; Pérez, Giancarlo Medina; Christophers, Briana; Paiva, Marcelo; Oliva, Rocío; Hijaz, Baraa; Prado, Andrea; Jarquín, Mateo; Moretti, Katelyn; Marqués, Catalina González; Murillo, Alejandro; Tobin-Tyler, Elizabeth

doi:10.1016/s2214-109x(20)30131-5

Cited by 22 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…For example, Nicaragua had the poorest response to COVID-19 by refusing World Health Organization (WHO) recommended mitigation strategies at the state level. There are similarities to such responses in subpopulations in Pakistan where certain political and religious clerics are defying government orders (25). Our survey also suggests that 75% of the population in Pakistan have a high level of fear about COVID-19, especially those living in rural areas.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 among Pakistani residents: information access and low literacy vulnerabilities

Fatmi

Mahmood

Hameed

et al. 2020

East Mediterr Health J.

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Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has accentuated the need for speedy access to information. Digital divide and socio-demographic disparity create an information hiatus and therefore unhealthy practices with regard to dealing with COVID-19, particularly in low-and middle-income countries. Aims: We assessed knowledge, attitudes, practices and their determinants regarding COVID-19 in Pakistan during March-April 2020. Methods: 905 adults ≥18 years (males and females) participated: 403 from a web-based survey; 365 from an urban survey; and 137 from a rural survey. Frequency of adequate knowledge, attitudes and practices for the three populations was determined based on available global guidelines. Multivariable logistic regression analysis determined factors of adequacy of knowledge, attitudes, practices, and association of knowledge with attitudes and practices. Results: Mean age of the participants was 33.5 (+ SD 11.1) years, 51% were females. More females and young adults (18-30 years) participated in the web-based survey. The urban survey and web-based survey participants had significantly higher adequate knowledge (2-7 times) and practices (4-5 times) towards COVID-19. Adequate knowledge had a significant influence on healthy attitudes and practices for COVID-19, after adjustment for covariates. Overall, two-third of the population had high levels of fear about COVID-19, which a was highest among the rural survey population. 1 / 12 WHO EMRO | Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 among Pakistani residents: informat Conclusion: Substantial gaps exist in adequate knowledge, attitudes and practices, particularly among rural population, and underscores the variation in access to information according to level of education and access to the internet. Thus, a comprehensive, contextually congruent awareness raising strategy is urgently needed to confront COVID-19 among these populations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 among Pakistani residents: information access and low literacy vulnerabilities

Fatmi

Mahmood

Hameed

et al. 2020

East Mediterr Health J.

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“…Due to government restrictions, the true extent of the coronavirus crisis in Nicaragua is unknown, and statistics on the impact of the crisis on HCW and their risk of being infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus–2 (SARS-CoV-2), are lacking [ 5 ]. In the absence of effective containment measures [ 6 ] the virus has spread to a large portion of the population due to the highly infectious nature of SARS-CoV-2 and transmission of the virus by asymptomatic and presymptomatic individuals [ 7 ]. The Pan American Health Organization has decried having to rely on data from independent sources for insight into the country´s coronavirus pandemic and has called for an independent evaluation [ 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First report on prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among health-care workers in Nicaragua

Huete-Pérez¹,

Cabezas-Robelo²,

Páiz-Medina³

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

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The Nicaraguan COVID-19 situation is exceptional for Central America. The government restricts testing and testing supplies, and the true extent of the coronavirus crisis remains unknown. Dozens of deaths have been reported among health-care workers. However, statistics on the crisis’ effect on health-care workers and their risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 are lacking. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in health-care workers and to examine correlations with risk factors such as age, sex and comorbidities. Study participants (N = 402, median age 38.48 years) included physicians, nurses and medical assistants, from public and private hospitals, independent of symptom presentation. SARS-CoV-2 was detected on saliva samples using the loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay. A questionnaire was employed to determine subjects’ COVID-19-associated symptoms and their vulnerability to complications from risk factors such as age, sex, professional role and comorbidities. The study was performed five weeks into the exponential growth period in Nicaragua. We discovered that 30.35% of health-care workers participating in our study had been infected with SARS-CoV-2. A large percentage (54.92%) of those who tested positive were asymptomatic and were still treating patients. Nearly 50% of health-care workers who tested positive were under 40, an astonishing 30.33% reported having at least one comorbidity. In our study, sex and age are important risk factors for the probability of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 with significance being greatest among those between 30 and 40 years of age. In general, being male resulted in higher risk. Our data are the first non-governmental data obtained in Nicaragua. They shed light on several important aspects of COVID-19 in an underdeveloped nation whose government has implemented a herd-immunity strategy, while lacking an adequate healthcare system and sufficient PPE for health-care workers. These data are important for creating policies for containing the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

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“…The responses of countries to the pandemic range over a diversity of strategies (2)(3)(4)(5) and the current evidence on those strategies still relies mostly on modelling studies based on developing knowledge and available public data (6). From the experience of countries with large-scale community transmission such as China, Italy or Spain, it has been learned that COVID-19 requires unprecedented mobilization of health systems (7).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Epidemic trends, public health response and health system capacity: the Chilean experience in four months of the COVID-19 pandemic

Canals

Cuadrado

Canals

et al. 2020

Revista Panamericana De Salud Pública

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Objectives. To report the surveillance of COVID-19 pandemic in Chile and analyse the response to public health interventions implemented from 3 March to 30 June 2020 and to assess the risks of collapse of the health care system. Methods. We analysed the effective reproductive number, underreporting of cases, burden of critical beds, case fatality ratio and number of diagnostic RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2. Results. After an accelerated onset, the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to be relatively controlled in Chile (late April 2020), with reproductive numbers close to 1.00. However, at this time, the load of infected patients was high, with an important number of underreported cases; the diagnostic effort was still limited and heterogeneous across regions. After 1 May up to 30 June a marked exponential increase in the number of cases was observed with a peak on June 14. In this last period the occupation of intensive care unit beds increased to saturation level (89% nationally; 95% in the Metropolitan Region). Conclusions. Our findings suggest that the implemented public health interventions have been initially effective in decreasing the spread of the pandemic. Premature decisions to relax these interventions may have resulted in a rebound in cases with a rapid saturation of the health care system.

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Love in the time of COVID-19: negligence in the Nicaraguan response

Cited by 22 publications

References 0 publications

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 among Pakistani residents: information access and low literacy vulnerabilities

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 among Pakistani residents: information access and low literacy vulnerabilities

First report on prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among health-care workers in Nicaragua

Epidemic trends, public health response and health system capacity: the Chilean experience in four months of the COVID-19 pandemic

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