TITLE:
Bioclinical Study of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in the Laboratory of Virological Hemorrhagic Fever in Guinea
AUTHORS:
Alioune Frank Magassouba, Jacob Camara, Amadaye Souleyman Mahamat Al-Khassim, Ousmane Traoré, Mamadou Alimou Touré, Abdourahamane Diallo, Mamadou Diallo, Yacoub Ahmat Salhadiine, Ayouba Conde, Ahmat Lamadine Al-Hafiz, N’Faly Magassouba, Daman Sano, Marcel Mbeko Ouendouno, Mamadou Saliou Sow, Mohamed Cisse
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19, Coronavirus Disease, Viral Load, RT-PCR, Conakry
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Medical Microbiology,
Vol.12 No.4,
December
30,
2022
ABSTRACT: Introduction: This study aimed to
describe the clinical and microbiological characteristics of individuals
confirmed to have coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the laboratory of
virological hemorrhagic fever in Guinea. Method: This was a
cross-sectional and descriptive study conducted from March 19 to June 19, 2020,
in the virological hemorrhagic fever laboratory in Guinea. Samples collected
from individuals living in the Conakry region, which were positive for the
reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction test for COVID-19, were
included in this study. Results: Among the confirmed cases (N = 743),
the males (n = 440, 59%) were more than the females (n = 303, 41%). The mean
age of the confirmed cases was 33.31 ± 16.08 years. Almost all the confirmed
cases (n = 515, 69.3%) had contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19. At the
time of collection, 78.7% (481) of the cases were asymptomatic, while 35.3%
(262) were symptomatic. At the time of the sample
collection, the main symptoms were fever (51.53%), cough (49.24%), physical asthenia (46.18%), sore throat (33.2%),
headache (28.62%), anosmia (9.92%), nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain
(5.34%), and diarrhea (1.53%). Only 2% of the cases had comorbidities,
including diabetes (n = 7) and hypertension (n = 5). The viral load of the asymptomatic and symptomatic patients was
similar with the cycle threshold value, all of which varied from 10 - 19, 20 -
29, and 30 - 36, respectively. In the first test, 27 samples were declared
undetermined; two days later, samples were re-taken and re-tested and 18 of
them were positive for COVID-19. The average length of hospitalization was 14
days for patients admitted to the hospital. On the other hand, the non- hospitalized patients isolated themselves at home for 22 days. We found
an association between age and the presence of symptomatology (p Conclusion: The main clinical manifestations of COVID19 patients in our study were fever,
cough, generalized myalgia, asthenia, headache, diarrhea, and dyspnea. The risk
of being symptomatic increases with age. However, younger patients are at a
lower risk of experiencing severe symptoms of COVID-19.