Prevalence of SARS-COV-2/COVID-19 in Guinea among travelers to foreign countries in the period from April 1 to June 30, 2021

Abstract

Introduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of COVID-19 which is a global pandemic, since its appearance in 2019 in China, is associated with hundreds of millions of deaths in across the world, and the numbers continue to increase overnight with the appearance of new variants. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among travelers received at the Laboratory of the National Institute of Public Health. Material and methods: This was a prospective, descriptive cross-sectional study lasting three months from April 1 to June 31, 2021, focusing on travelers aged 2 and over received at the Laboratory of the National Institute of Health Public during our study. Results: The prevalence of SARSCoV-2 among travelers was 1.6% (17/1037). The sex ratio was 1.83 in favor of the male sex. The average age was 43 years with a standard deviation of more or less 15 years with the extremes of 2 years and 88 years. The age group under 18 years old and those between 46 and 65 years old are the most affected by the disease with 2.04% and 2.08% respectively. Ratoma was the municipality where there were more travelers screened but with only 1.02% of positive cases for COVID-19 on the other hand the prefecture of Dubréka with 31 travelers screened, we noted 6.45% (2/31) of positive cases for COVID-19 which makes this prefecture the most affected during our study followed by the commune of Matam with 2.59% (2/77). Retirees and housewives were the groups most affected by the disease with respective frequencies of 5% (1/20) and 4.08% (2/49). Note, however, that 2.67% (3/112) of patients were pupils and students while 1.67% (10/598) represented the informal sector. Conclusion: Our results show a low prevalence of positive cases for COVID-19 detected among travelers compared to results found elsewhere in the world. The eradication of this pandemic in the world will require everyone's effort to raise awareness and educate the population, monitor positive cases and respect with all due rigor the barrier measures decreed by the world health organization.