SARS-CoV-2 Prevalence in Malawi Based on Data from Survey of Communities and Health Workers in 5 High-Burden Districts, October 2020.


Theu, Joe Alex, Kabaghe, Alinune Nathanael ORCID: 0000-0001-8517-1586, Bello, George, Chitsa-Banda, Evelyn, Kagoli, Matthews, Auld, Andrew, Mkungudza, Jonathan, O'Malley, Gabrielle, Bangara, Fred Fredrick, Peacocke, Elizabeth F ORCID: 0000-0001-6930-9581 et al (show 13 more authors) (2022) SARS-CoV-2 Prevalence in Malawi Based on Data from Survey of Communities and Health Workers in 5 High-Burden Districts, October 2020. Emerging infectious diseases, 28 (13). S76-S84.

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Abstract

To determine early COVID-19 burden in Malawi, we conducted a multistage cluster survey in 5 districts. During October-December 2020, we recruited 5,010 community members (median age 32 years, interquartile range 21-43 years) and 1,021 health facility staff (HFS) (median age 35 years, interquartile range 28-43 years). Real-time PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection prevalence was 0.3% (95% CI 0.2%-0.5%) among community and 0.5% (95% CI 0.1%-1.2%) among HFS participants; seroprevalence was 7.8% (95% CI 6.3%-9.6%) among community and 9.7% (95% CI 6.4%-14.5%) among HFS participants. Most seropositive community (84.7%) and HFS (76.0%) participants were asymptomatic. Seroprevalence was higher among urban community (12.6% vs. 3.1%) and HFS (14.5% vs. 7.4%) than among rural community participants. Cumulative infection findings 113-fold higher from this survey than national statistics (486,771 vs. 4,319) and predominantly asymptomatic infections highlight a need to identify alternative surveillance approaches and predictors of severe disease to inform national response.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Public Health Institute of Malawi COVID-19 surveillance committee3, Humans, Antibodies, Viral, Prevalence, Seroepidemiologic Studies, Adult, Health Personnel, Young Adult, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 02 Feb 2024 11:39
Last Modified: 02 Feb 2024 11:39
DOI: 10.3201/eid2813.212348
Open Access URL: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/28/13/21-2348_ar...
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3178346
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