ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The objective of our study was to establish the epidemiological profile of COVID-19 in Tombouctou. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study of COVID-19 surveillance data from Tombouctou from April 3 to October 1, 2020. Our variables of interest were extracted from the surveillance database and analyzed with Excel 2013. The frequencies, rate, and ratio were computed. RESULTS: Overall, 1851 suspects from all districts of the region were screened by RT-PCR, including 572 confirmed, which indicate a positivity rate of 30.90%. The 15-34 age group was the most represented with 48% of the confirmed cases. The sex ratio (male / female) of confirmed cases was 2.67. The city of Tombouctou was the epicenter of COVID-19. The Tombouctou region had a detection rate of around 2 (1851/928,000) and peaked between weeks 22 and 23 with a case fatality of 2.8%. CONCLUSION: Young people and men were most likely to be infected with COVID-19. We recommend increasing awareness of compliance with barrier measures.
INTRODUCTION: L'objectif de notre étude était d'établir le profil épidémiologique de la COVID-19 à Tombouctou. MATÉRIEL ET MÉTHODES: Il s'agissait d'une étude transversale descriptive des données de surveillance de la COVID-19 de la Région de Tombouctou du 3 avril au 1er octobre 2020. Nos variables d'intérêts ont été extraites de la base de données de surveillance et analysées sur Excel 2013. Les fréquences, taux et ratio ont été calculés. RÉSULTATS: Au total 1851 cas suspects en provenance de tous les districts de la région ont été testés à la RT-PCR dont 572 confirmés soit un taux de positivité de 30,90%. La tranche d'âge de 15-34 ans était la plus représentée avec une proportion de 48% de l'effectif des confirmés. Le sex ratio (homme/femme) des cas confirmés était de 2,67. La ville de Tombouctou était l'épicentre de la COVID-19. La région de Tombouctou avait un taux de dépistage d'environ 2 (1851/928.000) et a connu son pic entre les semaines 22 et 23 avec une létalité de 2,8%. CONCLUSION: Les jeunes et les hommes seraient les plus susceptibles d'être infectés par la COVID-19. Nous recommandons le renforcement de la sensibilisation pour le respect des mesures barrières.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Neglected tropical diseases are co-endemic in many areas of the world, including sub Saharan Africa. Currently lymphatic filariasis (albendazole/ivermectin) and trachoma (azithromycin) are treated separately. Consequently, financial and logistical benefit can be gained from integration of preventive chemotherapy programs in such areas. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS: 4 villages in two co-endemic districts (Kolondièba and Bougouni) of Sikasso, Mali, were randomly assigned to coadministered treatment (ivermectin/albendazole/azithromycin) or standard therapy (ivermectin/albendazole with azithromycin 1 week later). These villages had previously undergone 4 annual MDA campaigns with ivermectin/albendazole and 2 with azithromycin. One village was randomly assigned to each treatment arm in each district. There were 7515 eligible individuals in the 4 villages, 3011(40.1%) of whom participated in the study. No serious adverse events occurred, and the majority of adverse events were mild in intensity (mainly headache, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and "other signs/symptoms"). The median time to the onset of the first event, of any type, was later (8 days) in the two standard treatment villages than in the co-administration villages. Overall the number of subjects reporting any event was similar in the co-administration group compared to the standard treatment group [18.7% (281/1501) vs. 15.8% (239/1510)]. However, the event frequency was higher in the coadministration group (30.4%) than in the standard treatment group (11.0%) in Kolondièba, while the opposite was observed in Bougouni (7.1% and 20.9% respectively). Additionally, the overall frequency of adverse events in the co-administration group (18.7%) was comparable to or lower than published frequencies for ivermectin+albendazole alone. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that co-administration of ivermectin+albendazole and azithromycin is safe; however the small number of villages studied and the large differences between them resulted in an inability to calculate a meaningful overall estimate of the difference in adverse event rates between the regimens. Further work is therefore needed before co-administration can be definitively recommended. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT01586169.
