Department of Medical Diagnostics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
PLoS One. 2021 Apr 13;16(4):e0249069. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249069. eCollection 2021.
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to remain a global challenge. There is emerging evidence of SARS-CoV-2 virus found in the blood of patients from China and some developed countries. However, there is inadequate data reported in Ghana and other parts of Africa, where blood transfusion service heavily relies on voluntary and replacement blood donors. This study aimed to investigate whether plasma of infected individuals could pose significant transfusion transmitted risk of COVID-19 in Ghanaian populations.
This cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted at the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research into Tropical Medicine (KCCR), KNUST, Ghana. Study subjects comprised contacts of COVID-19 individuals, those with classical symptoms of COVID-19 and individuals who had recovered based on the new Ghana discharge criteria. Whole blood, sputum or deep coughed saliva samples were collected and transported to KCCR for SARS-CoV-2 testing. Viral nucleic acid was extracted from sputum/nasopharyngeal samples using Da An Gene column based kit and from plasma using LBP nucleic acid extraction kit. Real-Time PCR was performed specifically targeting the ORF1ab and Nucleocapsid (N) genomic regions of the virus.
A total of 97 individuals were recruited into the study, with more than half being males (58; 59.7%). The mean age of all subjects was 33 years (SD = 7.7) with minimum being 22 years and maximum 56 years. Majority (76; 78.4%) of all the subjects were asymptomatic, and among the few symptomatic subjects, cough (10; 10.3%) was the most predominant symptom. Of the 97 sputum samples tested, 79 (81.4%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2. We identified SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in the plasma of 1 (1.03%) subject who had clinically recovered.
This study reports the identification of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in a convalescent individual in Ghana. Due to the low prevalence observed and the marginal cycling thresholds associated, the risk of transfusion transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is negligible. Well-powered studies and advanced diagnostics to determine infectious viremia is recommended to further evaluate the potential risk of hematogenous transmission among recovered patients.
由严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2 型（SARS-CoV-2）引起的新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行仍然是一个全球性挑战。有证据表明，中国和一些发达国家的患者血液中存在 SARS-CoV-2 病毒。然而，在加纳和非洲其他地区，血液输注服务严重依赖自愿和替代献血者，这些地区报告的数据不足。本研究旨在调查感染个体的血浆是否会对加纳人群构成 COVID-19 的重大输血传播风险。
这是一项在加纳库马西合作热带医学研究中心（KCCR）进行的横断面回顾性研究。研究对象包括 COVID-19 患者的接触者、有 COVID-19 典型症状的患者和根据加纳新出院标准已康复的患者。采集全血、痰或深咳唾液样本，并运送到 KCCR 进行 SARS-CoV-2 检测。使用大澳基因柱试剂盒从痰/鼻咽样本中提取病毒核酸，使用 LBP 核酸提取试剂盒从血浆中提取。采用实时 PCR 特异性检测病毒的 ORF1ab 和核衣壳（N）基因组区域。
共有 97 人入组本研究，其中一半以上为男性（58；59.7%）。所有受试者的平均年龄为 33 岁（SD=7.7），最小 22 岁，最大 56 岁。所有受试者中，超过一半（76；78.4%）无症状，在少数有症状的受试者中，咳嗽（10；10.3%）是最主要的症状。在 97 份检测的痰样本中，79 份（81.4%）对 SARS-CoV-2 呈阳性。我们在 1 名临床康复的患者的血浆中检测到 SARS-CoV-2 病毒 RNA。
本研究报告了在加纳康复患者中发现 SARS-CoV-2 病毒 RNA。由于观察到的流行率较低，以及与循环阈值相关的边缘性，SARS-CoV-2 的输血传播风险可以忽略不计。建议进行大规模研究和先进的诊断，以进一步评估恢复期患者中潜在的血液传播风险。
