Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among health care workers in Nasarawa State, Nigeria: implications for infection prevention and control measures.

INTRODUCTION: health care workers (HCWs) are on the frontline, waging war against SARS-CoV-2 and have a higher risk of infection with exposure to an infected person with SARS-CoV-2. There is a paucity of information on clinical characteristics and infection risk gradient of HCWs with SARS-CoV-2 with the view to marshal preventive measures. METHODS: we conducted a multi-center case series analysis of 648 HCWs who were randomly selected in private and public hospitals across Nasarawa State, managing cases of SARS-CoV-2. Demographic and epidemiological information, were abstracted from electronic medical records of cases from February to July 2020. Throat and Nasopharyngeal swabs and real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid were performed. RESULTS: overall, 134 of 648 HCWs across health centers in Nasarawa State tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Eighty male HCWs constituted 30.9% of respondents with a median (interquartile range) age of 36.7 (30.0-47.0) years. Overall, 50 of 134 HCWs (67.5%) with SAR-COV-2 had mild disease. The five most common symptoms amongst cases were fever (67 [90.5%]), myalgia or fatigue (60 [81.1%]), cough (50[67.6%]), sore throat (50 [67.6%]), and muscle ache (50 [67.6%]). Contact with index patients (65 [59.1%]) and colleagues with infection (10 [13.9%]) as well as community-acquired infection (14 [18.9%]) were the main routes of exposure for HCWs. CONCLUSION: HCWs in Nasarawa State face an unprecedented occupational risk of morbidity and mortality as a result of SARS-CoV-2. There is need for rapid development of sustainable infection prevention control measures that protect HCWs from the SARS-CoV-2 ongoing pandemic.

Person to person transmission of pneumonia associated with the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): a familial cluster analysis in North Central Nigeria.

The continued absence of viable vaccines, limited diagnostic tools, insufficient protocol for isolation period, and weak health care system in developing countries with Nigeria inclusive heightens the tension trailing the arrival of Novel SARS-CoV-2 that was officially declared a global health emergency by World Health Organization (WHO) in January 2020. In this context, this study assesses the adequacy and potency of treatment for pneumonia associated with the Novel SARS-CoV-2. Counting from 27th February 2020, exponential rise in cases of SARS-CoV-2 has been recorded in Nigeria. Despite limited data on person-to-person transmission or nosocomial transmission, we report the epidemiological features of a familial cluster of 4 positive cases to SARS-CoV-2 in Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria. This cluster presented with an unexplained pneumonia after having contact with a family member who died after manifesting symptoms of Novel SARS-CoV-2; the test came out positive after his demise. Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid were performed using nasopharyngeal swabs (Novel Coronavirus PCR Fluorescence Diagnostic Kit, BioGerm Medical Biotechnology at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Abuja. Nigeria. From March 10, 2020, we enrolled a family of four patients out of a family of 10 who were positive to novel coronavirus. Four family members (aged 36-43 years) all presented with fever, upper or lower respiratory tract symptoms, or diarrhea, or a combination of these 3-6 days after exposure. These conditions continued to manifest at the Federal Medical Center, Keffi in Nasarawa State, 3-7 days after symptom onset. Their nasopharyngeal or throat swabs of these 10 family members were taken and four returned positive to coronavirus, while six tested negative. The epidemiological evidence from our study on familial cluster analysis reveals possible transmission of Novel SARS-CoV-2 during the incubation period. Study outcomes underscore the importance of probing contact history of potentially infected individuals, for prompt identification to preventing further spread.