Shifting Patterns of Influenza Circulation during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Senegal.

Historically low levels of seasonal influenza circulation were reported during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic and were mainly attributed to implementation of nonpharmaceutical interventions. In tropical regions, influenza's seasonality differs largely, and data on this topic are scarce. We analyzed data from Senegal's sentinel syndromic surveillance network before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to assess changes in influenza circulation. We found that influenza shows year-round circulation in Senegal and has 2 distinct epidemic peaks: during January-March and during the rainy season in August-October. During 2021-2022, the expected January-March influenza peak completely disappeared, corresponding to periods of active SARS-CoV-2 circulation. We noted an unexpected influenza epidemic peak during May-July 2022. The observed reciprocal circulation of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza suggests that factors such as viral interference might be at play and should be further investigated in tropical settings.

Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin Treatment of Hospitalized Patients Infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Senegal from March to October 2020.

As of today, little data is available on COVID-19 in African countries, where the case management relied mainly on a treatment by association between hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin (AZM). This study aimed to understand the main clinical outcomes of COVID-19 hospitalized patients in Senegal from March to October 20202. We described the clinical characteristics of patients and analysed clinical status (alive and discharged versus hospitalized or died) at 15 days after Isolation and Treatment Centres (ITC) admission among adult patients who received HCQ plus AZM and those who did not receive this combination. A total of 926 patients were included in this analysis. Six hundred seventy-four (674) (72.8%) patients received a combination of HCQ and AZM. Results showed that the proportion of patient discharge at D15 was significantly higher for patients receiving HCQ plus AZM (OR: 1.63, IC 95% (1.09-2.43)). Factors associated with a lower proportion of patients discharged alive were: age ≥ 60 years (OR: 0.55, IC 95% (0.36-0.83)), having of at least one pre-existing disorder (OR: 0.61, IC 95% (0.42-0.90)), and a high clinical risk at admission following NEWS score (OR: 0.49, IC 95% (0.28-0.83)). Few side effects were reported including 2 cases of cardiac rhythmic disorders in the HCQ and AZM group versus 13 in without HCQ + AZM. An improvement of clinical status at 15 days was found for patients exposed to HCQ plus AZM combination.