Nkunzimana Edouard, Bizimana Jean Claude, Ndoreraho Adolphe, Iteka Liesse, Butoyi Pascal, Leopold Ouedraogo, Nyandwi Joseph
Ministry of Public Health and Fight against AIDS, National Public Health Institute, Bujumbura, Burundi.
Ministry of Public Health and Fight against AIDS, National Public Health Emergency Operation Centre, Bujumbura, Burundi.
East Afr Health Res J. 2022;6(2):127-133. doi: 10.24248/eahrj.v6i2.689. Epub 2022 Nov 30.
Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2 Virus). It was reported for the first time in Wuhan city, Hubei province of China. The first cases of COVID-19 in Burundi were identified on 31 March 2020. Several signs and symptoms, including mainly; fever, dry cough, fatigue, myalgia, and dyspnea are the most prominent characteristics of the disease. The aim of this study was to provide description of the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cases identified during the mass screening campaign conducted between July and October, 2020 in Burundi.
We conducted a retrospective secondary analysis of data of clients to the mass screening campaign in Bujumbura city that was run between July and October 2020. Clients with complete data and tested for COVID-19 with Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) were included in the study. Epi-Info 7.2.2.6 was used to perform descriptive and analytical statistics and Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) was used for cases mapping. Association between positive cases and independent variables such as sex, history of contact with confirmed COVID-19 case was measured using chi-square statistical test at a of .05.
The study included 20,114 participants. 243 (1.2%) were tested positive for COVID-19. The mean age for confirmed cases was 33 (±15) years. The majority of cases (72.8%) were between 20 and 59 years of age and they were predominantly males (67.9%). 164 (67.5%) were symptomatic and cough was the most frequent symptom observed 109 (66.5%), followed by rhinorrhea 69 (42.1%). Fever was present in only 18 (11.0%) of symptomatic patients. Participants with a history of contact with a COVID-19 confirmed case (aOR=2.2; 95%CI [1.6-3.0]; <.001), were more likely to be positive for COVID-19. Also, those who were coughing (aOR=1.47; 95%CI [1.06-2.05]; =.023) and having sore throat (aOR=2.4; 95%CI [1.1-4.9]; ) were more likely to test positive for COVID-19.
This study revealed that a significant proportion (32.5%) of COVID-19 patients were silent carriers of the virus. Data highlighted that high proportion of cases were among the active age group and contacts with confirmed cases, and noted high proportion of asymptomatic cases at diagnosis. Measures including routine testing of asymptomatic contacts could contribute to tackling corona virus in Burundi.
2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）是由严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2病毒）引起的一种传染病。该病首次在中国湖北省武汉市报告。布隆迪的首例COVID-19病例于2020年3月31日被确认。包括发热、干咳、乏力、肌痛和呼吸困难在内的几种体征和症状是该病最突出的特征。本研究的目的是描述2020年7月至10月在布隆迪开展的大规模筛查活动期间确诊的COVID-19病例的临床和流行病学特征。
我们对2020年7月至10月在布琼布拉市开展的大规模筛查活动中客户的数据进行了回顾性二次分析。纳入研究的对象为数据完整且通过逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）检测COVID-19的客户。使用Epi-Info 7.2.2.6进行描述性和分析性统计，并使用量子地理信息系统（QGIS）进行病例绘图。采用卡方统计检验在α = 0.05的水平下测量阳性病例与性别、接触确诊COVID-19病例史等自变量之间的关联。
该研究共纳入20114名参与者。243人（1.2%）COVID-19检测呈阳性。确诊病例的平均年龄为33（±15）岁。大多数病例（72.8%）年龄在20至59岁之间，且以男性为主（67.9%）。164人（67.5%）有症状，咳嗽是最常见的症状，有109人（66.5%）出现咳嗽，其次是流涕，有69人（42.1%）出现流涕。只有18名（11.0%）有症状的患者出现发热。有接触确诊COVID-19病例史的参与者（调整后比值比[aOR]=2.2；95%置信区间[CI][1.6 - 3.0]；P <.001）更有可能COVID-19检测呈阳性。此外，咳嗽的人（aOR=1.47；95%CI[1.06 - 2.05]；P =.023）和喉咙痛的人（aOR=2.4；95%CI[1.1 - 4.9]；P =）更有可能COVID-19检测呈阳性。
本研究表明，相当一部分（32.5%）COVID-19患者是病毒的无症状携带者。数据突出显示，高比例病例出现在活跃年龄组以及与确诊病例有接触的人群中，并指出诊断时无症状病例的比例很高。包括对无症状接触者进行常规检测在内的措施可能有助于布隆迪应对冠状病毒。
