SARS-CoV-2 Prevalence among Outpatients during Community Transmission, Zambia, July 2020

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 27; no. 8; pp. 2166 - 2168
• Main Authors: Hines, Jonas Z, Fwoloshi, Sombo, Kampamba, Davies, Barradas, Danielle T, Banda, Dabwitso, Zulu, James E, Wolkon, Adam, Yingst, Samuel, Boyd, Mary Adetinuke, Siwingwa, Mpanji, Chirwa, Lameck, Kapina, Muzala, Sinyange, Nyambe, Mukonka, Victor, Malama, Kennedy, Mulenga, Lloyd B, Agolory, Simon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01-08-2021; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Community; coronavirus disease; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 diagnostic tests; Disease control; disease control strategies; Disease prevention; Disease transmission; Dispatch; Epidemics; Health facilities; Health surveillance; Humans; Infections; Original Research; Outpatients; Pandemics; Prevalence; Public health; Questionnaires; real-time PCR; respiratory infections; Risk factors; SARS-CoV-2; Serology; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Statistics; Zambia; Zambia - epidemiology; Zambia; United States > US; Africa; whole genome sequencing; SARS-CoV-2; disease control strategies; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; zoonoses; Zambia; coronavirus disease; real-time PCR; disease transmission; pandemics; respiratory infections
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059
• DOI: 10.3201/eid2708.210502

During the July 2020 first wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in Zambia, PCR-measured prevalence was 13.4% among outpatients at health facilities, an absolute difference of 5.7% compared with prevalence among community members. This finding suggests that facility testing might be an effective strategy during high community transmission.