Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital, Harare City, Department of Health, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Pan Afr Med J. 2022 Apr 27;41:339. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2022.41.339.33514. eCollection 2022.
COVID-19 sample management is pivotal in controlling the pandemic. Results of 28/45 (62.2%) cases identified at a high school COVID-19 outbreak in Harare's Northern district were not reported within the recommended 24 hours of notification. This leads to delayed patient management. We evaluated the sample management system for COVID-19 in Harare City. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Harare City. Health care workers involved in COVID-19 sample management at a high school outbreak in the Northern district namely clinicians, laboratory, environmental and administrative personnel were purposively sampled. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to collect data. Quantitative data were analyzed using Epi info version 7. Medians and proportions were generated. A 3-point Likert Scale was used to measure knowledge levels of health care workers on COVID-19 sample management. Thirty health care workers were interviewed and females were 20/30 (66%). Participants had not been trained in sample management. Overall knowledge level was good for 7/30 (23%) of the participants. Of the samples collected, 156/451 (34.6%) were wrongly sent to the national microbiology laboratory and 53/156 (34.0%) of the results were received. Sample management of COVID-19 samples in Harare City was found to affect patient management because of poor knowledge of healthcare workers, lack of transportation and communication means. The need for training cadres involved in the management process and availing adequate resources can improve turnaround time of results hence patient management.
新冠病毒样本管理对于控制疫情至关重要。在哈拉雷北部地区一所高中的新冠疫情爆发中，28/45（62.2%）例确诊病例的结果未在规定的 24 小时内报告。这导致了患者管理的延迟。我们评估了哈拉雷市的新冠病毒样本管理系统。这是一项在哈拉雷市进行的描述性横断面研究。我们对北部地区一所高中疫情爆发中参与新冠病毒样本管理的医护人员进行了定点抽样，包括临床医生、实验室、环境和行政人员。采用访谈者管理的问卷收集数据。使用 Epi info 版本 7 分析定量数据。生成中位数和比例。采用 3 点李克特量表衡量医护人员对新冠病毒样本管理的知识水平。共采访了 30 名医护人员，其中 20/30（66%）为女性。参与者没有接受过样本管理培训。总体知识水平良好的参与者有 7/30（23%）。在采集的 451 个样本中，156/451（34.6%）错误地送到了国家微生物学实验室，其中 53/156（34.0%）的结果被接收。由于医护人员知识匮乏、缺乏交通和通讯手段，哈拉雷市的新冠病毒样本管理会影响患者管理。需要对管理过程中涉及的干部进行培训，并提供充足的资源，可以提高结果的周转时间，从而改善患者管理。
