Features associated with SARS-COV-2 positivity among people presenting with acute respiratory tract infections to public Hospitals in Harari region, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Despite investigating coronavirus among respiratory tract infected cases is a top priority to prevent further transmission, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 positivity among this group of patients remains unexplored in resource-limited settings. Therefore, this study intended to assess the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 positivity among patients presenting with acute respiratory tract infection from 1 July to 31 December 2020 in Harar Region, Ethiopia, from 15 February to 10 March 2021. Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study design was used. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was tested by assaying oropharyngeal swabs using reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction among patients presenting with acute respiratory tract infection in Harari Public Hospitals. A binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 positivity with an adjusted odds ratio at a 95% confidence interval. Results: Out of a total of 1692 study participants, 388 (22.9%) of them tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Of these severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 positive patients, 364 (21.6%) patients presented with lower respiratory tract infection, while the rest only 24 (1.4%) presented with upper respiratory tract infection. Independent variables included separated/divorced in marital status (AOR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.29–0.95), presenting with cough, fever, and difficulty of breathing (AOR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.22–4.7), age group of 30–39 years (AOR = 0.35, 95% CI: 0.15–0.79), 40–49 years (AOR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.14–0.94), and 50–59 years (AOR = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.13–0.76) compared to patients with the age of ⩾ 60 years, had statistically significant association with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 positivity. Conclusion: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was positive among 388 (22.9%) acute respiratory tract infected people. Elder age, particular symptoms, such as cough, fever, and difficulty of breathing, and married marital status were associated with a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 positive test. In resource-limited setups, where a shortage of testing equipment is common, these findings could contribute to boosting targeted symptom-oriented screening schemes. Moreover, this study could have paramount clinical importance for further studies in the country.

Viral co‐infection with human respiratory syncytial virus in suspected acute and severe respiratory tract infections during COVID‐19 pandemic in Yaoundé, Cameroon, 2020–2021

“…This value is lower than that (21%, 21.2%, 22.9%, 28.3%, and 34.6%) reported in most other similar studies. 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 It is nevertheless similar to what was noted in California, Cairo, and Illinois 34 , 35 , 36 by Kim et al (9.5%), Fahim et al (12%), and Hazra et al (18.1%), respectively; and higher than that reported in Australia and southwest China. 21 , 25 Additionally, influenza and RSV were identified from patient samples and collectively contributed to 18.1% of all ILI cases in our study.…”

What have we learned about socioeconomic inequalities in the spread of COVID-19? A systematic review

“…In general, there seems to be agreement that infection rates considerably differ between urban and rural areas. Another interesting result is that education level did not affect reported transmissions and infections ( Bayode, et al, 2022 ; Birhanu, Ayana, Bayu, Mohammed, & Dessie, 2021 ).…”

“…Few studies ( ) were found addressing this continent. The focus is either on individual regions within a country, such as Angola ( Sebastião, et al, 2021 ); Nigeria ( Bayode, et al, 2022 ); Zambia ( Phiri, et al, 2021 ); and Ethiopia ( Birhanu, Ayana, Bayu, Mohammed, & Dessie, 2021 ), or cross-country assessments. Population density, per capita GDP and urbanization levels are found to be among the most commonly used groups of indicators.…”

“…Although Kendall τ and Spearman ρ offer some advantages by relaxing the normal distribution assumption, they do not account for the possible presence of temporal trends, which can strongly affect the correlation value and yield artefactual associations. More sophisticated methods such as spatial ( Andersen, et al, 2021 ; Maroko, Nash, & Pavilonis, 2020 ; Parvin, et al, 2021 ) or generalized linear models for count data, including Logistic ( Kwok, et al, 2021 ; Birhanu, Ayana, Bayu, Mohammed, & Dessie, 2021 ), Poisson ( Sugg, et al, 2021 ; Morrissey, Spooner, Salter, & Shaddick, 2021 ) and Negative Binomial ( Benita & Gasca-Sanchez, 2021 ; Strully, Yang, & Liu, 2021 ), have been also applied. Machine learning models and classification algorithms figure from amongst the most popular approaches for predicting COVID-19 occurrence using socioeconomic inputs ( Phiri, et al, 2021 ; Li, et al, 2021 ).…”

Incidence and predictors of organ failure among COVID-19 hospitalized adult patients in Eastern Ethiopia. Hospital-based retrospective cohort study

“…The hospital manages the referral cases received from the Eastern part of Oromia Region, Somali region, Harari region, and Dire Dawa City administration. The hospital has been labeled as COVID-19 treatment center by Ethiopian Minster of Health (MoH) since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Ethiopia [13] Participants and eligibility criteria An adult patient admitted to Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital with the diagnosis of COVID-19 between May 2020 and August 2021 was included in this study. The patient whose information was incomplete for the variable of interests was excluded from the study (Additional file 1).…”