Insomnia and common mental disorder among patients with pre-existing chronic non-communicable diseases in southern Ethiopia: a survey during COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: COVID-19 has been causing significant mental health problems and other health-related issues. Despite the fact that COVID-19 has a significant impact on chronic disease patients, there is scant research on insomnia, common mental health disorders (CMD), and their associated factors among chronic disease patients. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of insomnia and common mental disorders (CMD) and their associated factors among patients with pre-existing chronic NCDs in Sidama, southern Ethiopia. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was undertaken between June 1 and September 1, 2021. The study included 633 participants. CMD and insomnia were assessed using a 20-item Self-Reported Questionnaire (SRQ-20) and a 7-item Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scale, respectively. To describe the various variables, descriptive statistics were used. We performed multivariable logistic regression analysis to identify independent factors associated with CMD and insomnia. A value of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant at a 95% confidence interval. Results: The prevalence of insomnia and CMD was found to be 39.3% and 46.8%, respectively. Being merchant (AOR = 0.33; 95% CI = 0.13, 0.82), having a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (AOR = 1.89; 95% CI = 1.04, 3.46), comorbid diagnosis (AOR = 3.96; 95% CI = 2.27, 6.89), low social support (poor (AOR = 3.37; 95% CI = 1.51, 7.57) and moderate (AOR = 3.13; 95% CI = 1.46, 6.69)), symptoms of insomnia (AOR = 12.08; 95% CI = 7.41, 19.72) and poor quality of life (QOL) (AOR = 1.67; 95% CI = 1.04, 2.72) were independent predictors of CMD. We also found out that, having cardiovascular disorders (CVDs) (AOR = 2.48; 95% CI = 1.18, 5.19), CMD (AOR = 12.09; 95% CI = 7.46, 19.61), and poor QOL (AOR = 2.04; 95% CI = 1.27, 3.26) were significantly associated with insomnia symptoms. Conclusion: Our study suggests that substantially high prevalence of CMD and insomnia. Significant association between CMD and occupation, diagnosis, comorbidity, social support, insomnia, and QOL were found. We also revealed that having CVDs, CMD, and poor QOL were significantly associated with insomnia symptoms. Therefore, dealing with the mental health problems of patients with chronic NCDs is an essential component of public health intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SARS-CoV-2 Infection-and mRNA Vaccine-induced Humoral Immunity among Schoolchildren in Hawassa, Ethiopia.

Background: With the persisting low vaccination intake, particularly in children of low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), seroepidemiological studies are urgently needed to guide and tailor COVID-19 pandemic response efforts in schools and to put mitigation strategies in place for a future post-pandemic resurgence. However, there is limited data on SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced and vaccine-induced humoral immunity in schoolchildren in LMICs, including Ethiopia. Methods: As the spike receptor binding domain (RBD) is the major target for neutralization antibodies and useful to predict the correlates of protection, we used an in-house anti-RBD IgG ELISA to assess and compare infection-induced antibody response at two-time points and BNT162b2 (BNT) vaccine-induced antibody response at a one-time point in schoolchildren in Hawassa, Ethiopia. In addition, we measured and compared the levels of binding IgA antibodies to spike RBD of SARS-CoV-2 Wild type, Delta, and Omicron variants in a small subset of unvaccinated and BNT-vaccinated schoolchildren. Results: When we compare SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced seroprevalences among unvaccinated school children (7-19 years) at the two blood sampling points with a 5-month interval, we observed an over 10% increase, from 51.8% (219/419) in the first week of December 2021 (post-Delta wave) to 67.4% (60/89) by the end of May 2022 (post-Omicron wave). Additionally, we found a significant correlation (p = 0.001) between anti-RBD IgG seropositivity and a history of having COVID-19-like symptoms. Compared to the levels of SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced anti-RBD IgG antibodies before vaccination, higher levels of BNT vaccine-induced anti-RBD IgG antibodies were observed even in SARS-CoV-2 infection-naïve schoolchildren of all age groups (p = 0.0001). Importantly, one dose of the BNT vaccine was shown to be adequate to elicit a strong antibody response in schoolchildren with pre-existing anti-RBD IgG antibodies comparable to that of SARS-CoV-2 infection-naive schoolchildren receiving two doses of BNT vaccine, suggesting a single dose administration of the BNT vaccine could be considered for schoolchildren who had prior SARS-CoV-2 infection when a shortage of vaccine supply is a limiting factor to administer two doses irrespective of their serostatus. Despite the small sample size of study participants, the BNT vaccine is shown to be immunogenic and safe for schoolchildren. Irrespective of schoolchildren's vaccination status, we observed a similar pattern of significantly higher levels of IgA antibodies to Delta-RBD than to Omicron-RBD (p < 0.001) in a randomly selected subset of schoolchildren, yet comparable to Wuhan-RBD, suggesting these schoolchildren were more likely to have had SARS-CoV-2 infection with Delta variant. Additionally, we noted a broader IgA antibody reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 variants in vaccinated schoolchildren with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, supporting the superiority of hybrid immunity. Conclusion: Our serological data indicate a significant increase in SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in children at a post-Omicron five-month follow-up compared to a post-Delta enrolment. Despite the small sample size of study participants, the BNT vaccine is shown to be immunogenic and safe for schoolchildren. Hybrid immunity would likely provide a broader humoral immunity against Wuhan strain, Delta, and Omicron variants than natural infection or vaccination alone does. However, future longitudinal cohort studies in SARS-CoV-2-naïve and COVID-19-recovered schoolchildren receiving the BNT vaccine are needed for a better understanding of the kinetics, breadth, and durability of BNT vaccine-induced multivariant-cross reactive immunity.

High seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among Ethiopian healthcare workers.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has a devastating impact on the economies and health care system of sub-Saharan Africa. Healthcare workers (HWs), the main actors of the health system, are at higher risk because of their occupation. Serology-based estimates of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HWs represent a measure of HWs' exposure to the virus and could be used as a guide to the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the community and valuable in combating COVID-19. This information is currently lacking in Ethiopia and other African countries. This study aimed to develop an in-house antibody testing assay, assess the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among Ethiopian high-risk frontline HWs. METHODS: We developed and validated an in-house Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for specific detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain immunoglobin G (IgG) antibodies. We then used this assay to assess the seroprevalence among HWs in five public hospitals located in different geographic regions of Ethiopia. From consenting HWs, blood samples were collected between December 2020 and February 2021, the period between the two peaks of COVID-19 in Ethiopia. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected using questionnaire-based interviews. Descriptive statistics and bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine the overall and post-stratified seroprevalence and the association between seropositivity and potential risk factors. RESULTS: Our successfully developed in-house assay sensitivity was 100% in serum samples collected 2- weeks after the first onset of symptoms whereas its specificity in pre-COVID-19 pandemic sera was 97.7%. Using this assay, we analyzed a total of 1997 sera collected from HWs. Of 1997 HWs who provided a blood sample, and demographic and clinical data, 51.7% were females, 74.0% had no symptoms compatible with COVID-19, and 29.0% had a history of contact with suspected or confirmed patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The overall seroprevalence was 39.6%. The lowest (24.5%) and the highest (48.0%) seroprevalence rates were found in Hiwot Fana Specialized Hospital in Harar and ALERT Hospital in Addis Ababa, respectively. Of the 821 seropositive HWs, 224(27.3%) of them had a history of symptoms consistent with COVID-19 while 436 (> 53%) of them had no contact with COVID-19 cases as well as no history of COVID-19 like symptoms. A history of close contact with suspected/confirmed COVID-19 cases is associated with seropositivity (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.8; p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: High SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence levels were observed in the five Ethiopian hospitals. These findings highlight the significant burden of asymptomatic infection in Ethiopia and may reflect the scale of transmission in the general population.