Abstract
Clinical characteristics of 51,815 patients presenting with positive and negative SARS-CoV-2 swab results in primary health care settings: Priority populations for vaccination
Highlights
This atypical epidemiological pattern is relevant in our geographical area where the second outbreak that started during the summer was linked to multiple distinct variants having accumulated mutations that differed from viral mutants that circulated during the first outbreak.[4]
Our findings suggest that nasal strip would provide at least consistent qualitative results, as long as the cycle threshold (Ct) value is within the range of an inferred infectivity.[8]
Our nasal strip collection method serves as an excellent sampling method with comparable performance with NPSTS, deep throat saliva (DTS) and nasal swab specimens in identifying subjects infected with SARSCoV-2
Summary
The study examines and compares demographics and clinical characteristics of adult patients presenting to primary health care settings testing positive and negative for SARS-CoV-2 rt-PCR, using electronic medical records. Comparison of patient characteristics between groups with positive and negative rt-PCR swab results Age had the most significant difference between both groups with increasing odds ratio. There are no studies that have reported on the association between pregnancy and risk of SARSCoV-2 infections.[9] Our results are the first to support the increased risk among this cohort of patients. The increased risk of infection in patients with diabetes and hypertension may be linked to the increased disease prevalence in older age groups. There are differences between patients with positive and negative rt-PCR SARS-CoV-2 swab results presenting to primary health care settings in Qatar. In our view’s vaccination should be prioritised for patients older than 50 years of age, pregnancy, and patients with cardiovascular risk factors
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