Altaf Abeer, Abbas Zaigham, Qadeer Muhammad Ali, Siyal Mehreen
Abeer Altaf, MBBS., Department of Hepatogastroenterology, Dr. Ziauddin Hospital, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan.
Zaigham Abbas, MBBS, FCPS, FRCP, FACP, FACG, AGAF, FRCPI., Department of Hepatogastroenterology, Dr. Ziauddin Hospital, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan.
Pak J Med Sci. 2023 Mar-Apr;39(2):367-370. doi: 10.12669/pjms.39.2.5659.
COVID-19 has taken the world by storm, creating much disparity among both healthcare and non-healthcare centres regarding the provision of services. The purpose of our study was to see the prevalence of the SARS-COV-2 exposure in the asymptomatic patients undergoing the endoscopic procedure, already triaged based on history and examination.
Total 207 patients were enrolled during a time period of five months during October 2020 to April 2021 at Dr. Ziauddin Hospital Clifton campus, Karachi. In this prospective observational study patients undergoing endoscopic procedures were included after taking informed consent. The patients who already tested positive for COVID-19 by PCR were excluded. Patients were tested for Covid serology by immunochromatographic rapid serology (ICT). Standard Operating Procedures for dealing with endoscopy patients during the COVID era were followed in all patients irrespective of antibody status.
Total number of patients included was 207; males were 121 (58.5%). The mean age was 48.5 ± 17.55 (range 13 to 92). Forty eight patients (23.2%) were positive for either antibody suggesting exposure to the COVID-19 virus. Out of these combined IgM and IgG positivity was seen in 24 (11.5%), IgM mono antibody positivity was seen in 7 (3.38%) and 17 (8.21%) of the study population tested positive for IgG only. 15 out of 46 (32.6%) patients with chronic liver disease in the cohort were seropositive for COVID antibodies.
About one-fourth of the patients undergoing the endoscopic procedure were tested positive for COVID antibodies of which a significant percentage had chronic liver disease. It stresses the need of observing standard precautions to prevent the spread of infection during these procedures, especially in the vulnerable population.
新冠疫情席卷全球，在医疗和非医疗中心的服务提供方面造成了很大差异。我们研究的目的是了解在已根据病史和检查进行分诊的接受内镜检查的无症状患者中，SARS-CoV-2暴露的流行情况。
2020年10月至2021年4月的五个月期间，在卡拉奇齐亚乌丁医院克利夫顿校区共招募了207名患者。在这项前瞻性观察研究中，接受内镜检查的患者在获得知情同意后被纳入。已通过PCR检测出新冠病毒呈阳性的患者被排除。通过免疫层析快速血清学（ICT）对患者进行新冠病毒血清学检测。在新冠疫情期间，所有患者无论抗体状态如何，均遵循处理内镜检查患者的标准操作程序。
纳入的患者总数为207名；男性121名（58.5%）。平均年龄为48.5±17.55岁（范围13至92岁）。48名患者（23.2%）的抗体检测呈阳性，表明接触过新冠病毒。其中，24名（11.5%）患者的IgM和IgG联合阳性，7名（3.38%）患者的IgM单抗体阳性，17名（8.21%）患者仅IgG检测呈阳性。该队列中46名慢性肝病患者中有15名（32.6%）新冠抗体血清学呈阳性。
约四分之一接受内镜检查的患者新冠抗体检测呈阳性，其中相当一部分患有慢性肝病。这强调了在这些检查过程中遵守标准预防措施以防止感染传播的必要性，特别是在易感人群中。
