ABSTRACT
Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic which has claimed millions of lives since its outbreak in year 2019. While mass immunization is crucial to get the pandemic under control, it continues to confront challenges which include public hesitation about the new vaccines. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude, practices and concerns regarding COVID-19 vaccines among patients in Sibu Hospital. Method(s): A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire, self-administered by the patients and caregivers who visited Outpatient, Inpatient or Drive Through Pharmacy, Sibu Hospital during office hours from December 2021 to January 2022. Data were collected using convenient sampling method and analysed using simple descriptive analyses. Result(s): 465 participants who completed the survey were included in the final analysis. 53.0%, 45.9% and 61.8% of participants understood that pregnant ladies, lactating mothers and chronic diseases patients were eligible to be vaccinated respectively. Perception regarding COVID-19 vaccination was mostly influenced by social media platforms (45.9%) and healthcare providers (40.8%). Participants felt motivated to receive COVID-19 vaccine as it was available for free (89.0%). More than half (61.3%) were concerned about COVID-19 vaccine as it was rapidly developed and approved. COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer was the most preferred choice (57.5%) followed by Sinovac (36.5%). Conclusion(s): This study provided insights on different drivers and barriers of the population from Sibu Hospital towards COVID-19 vaccination. Multifaceted approaches to empower the public to reduce the knowledge, attitude, practices and concerns gaps on COVID-19 vaccination are needed to get the pandemic under control.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Asymptomatic patients, together with those with mild symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), may play an important role in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. However, the dynamics of virus shedding during the various phases of the clinical course of COVID-19 remains unclear at this stage. METHODS: A total of 18 patients found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection by real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) assay and admitted to Chongqing University Central Hospital between 29 January and 5 February 2020 were enrolled into this study. Medical data, pulmonary computed tomographic (CT) scan images and RT-PCR results were periodically collected during the patients' hospital stay. All participants were actively followed up for 2 weeks after discharge. RESULTS: A total of nine (50%) asymptomatic patients and nine (50%) patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19 were identified at admission. Six patients (66.7%) who were asymptomatic at admission developed subjective symptoms during hospitalization and were recategorized as being presymptomatic. The median duration of virus shedding was 11.5, 28 and 31 days for presymptomatic, asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients, separately. Seven patients (38.9%) continued to shed virus after hospital discharge. During the convalescent phase, detectable antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and RNA were simultaneously observed in five patients (27.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Long-term virus shedding was documented in patients with mild symptoms and in asymptomatic patients. Specific antibody production to SARS-CoV-2 may not guarantee virus clearance after discharge. These observations should be considered when making decisions regarding clinical and public health, and when considering strategies for the prevention and control of SARS-CoV-2 infection.