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Sustained COVID-19 community transmission and potential super spreading events at neglected afro-ecuadorian communities assessed by massive RT-qPCR and serological testing of community dwelling population.
Vallejo-Janeta, Alexander Paolo; Morales-Jadan, Diana; Paredes-Espinosa, Maria Belen; Coronel, Barbara; Galvis, Heberson; Bone-Guano, Hugo Renato; Amador Rodriguez, Belen; Gomez Abeledo, Guadalupe; Freire-Paspuel, Byron; Ortiz-Prado, Esteban; Rivera-Olivero, Ismar; Henriquez-Trujillo, Aquiles Rodrigo; Lozada, Tannya; Bereguiain, Miguel Angel Garcia.
  • Vallejo-Janeta AP; One Health Research Group, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
  • Morales-Jadan D; One Health Research Group, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
  • Paredes-Espinosa MB; One Health Research Group, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
  • Coronel B; "UDLA-COVID-19 Team", Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
  • Galvis H; "UDLA-COVID-19 Team", Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
  • Bone-Guano HR; Universidad Técnica Luis Vargas Torres, Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
  • Amador Rodriguez B; Universidad Técnica Luis Vargas Torres, Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
  • Gomez Abeledo G; Universidad Técnica Luis Vargas Torres, Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
  • Freire-Paspuel B; "UDLA-COVID-19 Team", Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
  • Ortiz-Prado E; One Health Research Group, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
  • Rivera-Olivero I; One Health Research Group, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
  • Henriquez-Trujillo AR; One Health Research Group, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
  • Lozada T; Decanato de Investigación y Vinculación, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
  • Bereguiain MAG; One Health Research Group, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
Front Med (Lausanne) ; 9: 933260, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2022769
ABSTRACT

Background:

Neglected ethnic minorities from underserved rural populations in Latin America are highly vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to poor health infrastructure and limited access to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnosis. Esmeraldas is a mainly rural province of the Coastal Region of Ecuador characterized by a high presence of Afro-Ecuadorian population living under poverty conditions.

Objective:

We herein present a retrospective analysis of the surveillance SARS-CoV-2 testing in community-dwelling population from Esmeraldas carried out by our university laboratory in collaboration with regional health authorities during the first week of October 2020, in a region where no public SARS-CoV-2 detection laboratory was available at that time.

Results:

A total number of 1,259 people were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by Reverse Transcription quantitative Polimerasa Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR), resulting in an overall infection rate of 7.7% (97/1259, 95% CI [6.32-9.35%]) for SARS-CoV-2, up to 12.1% in some communities. Interestingly, community-dwelling super spreaders with viral loads over 108 copies/ml represented 6.2% of the SARS-CoV-2-infected population. Furthermore, anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG serological tests were applied to the same study group, yielding an overall seroprevalence of 11.68% (95% CI [9.98-13.62%]) but as high as 24.47% at some communities.

Conclusion:

These results support active COVID-19 community transmission in Esmeraldas province during the first semester of the COVID-19 pandemic as it has been shown for other rural communities in the Ecuadorian Coastal Region.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Type of study: Observational study Language: English Journal: Front Med (Lausanne) Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Fmed.2022.933260

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Type of study: Observational study Language: English Journal: Front Med (Lausanne) Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Fmed.2022.933260