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Epidemiological characterization of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and positivity in subsequent RT-PCR tests in the United Arab Emirates

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases could be symptomatic or asymptomatic. We (1) characterized and analyzed data collected from the first cohort of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates,...

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Autores principales: Al-Rifai, Rami H., Acuna, Juan, Al Hossany, Farida Ismail, Aden, Bashir, Al Memari, Shamma Abdullah, Al Mazrouei, Shereena Khamis, Ahmed, Luai A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7880695/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33577582
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246903
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author Al-Rifai, Rami H.
Acuna, Juan
Al Hossany, Farida Ismail
Aden, Bashir
Al Memari, Shamma Abdullah
Al Mazrouei, Shereena Khamis
Ahmed, Luai A.
author_facet Al-Rifai, Rami H.
Acuna, Juan
Al Hossany, Farida Ismail
Aden, Bashir
Al Memari, Shamma Abdullah
Al Mazrouei, Shereena Khamis
Ahmed, Luai A.
author_sort Al-Rifai, Rami H.
collection PubMed
description The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases could be symptomatic or asymptomatic. We (1) characterized and analyzed data collected from the first cohort of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, according to the symptomatic state, and (2) identified factors associated with the symptomatic state. The association between the symptomatic state and testing positive in three subsequent RT-PCR testing rounds was also quantified. Between February 28 and April 8, 2020, 1,249 cases were reported. Sociodemographic characteristics, working status, travel history, and chronic comorbidities of 791 cases were analyzed according to the symptomatic state (symptomatic or asymptomatic). After the first confirmatory test, the results of three subsequent tests were analyzed. The mean age of the 791 cases was 35.6 ± 12.7 years (range: 1–81). Nearly 57.0% of cases were symptomatic. The two most frequent symptoms were fever (58.0%) and cough (41.0%). Symptomatic cases (mean age 36.3 ± 12.6 years) were significantly older than asymptomatic cases (mean age 34.5 ± 12.7 years). Compared with nonworking populations, working in public places (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 1.76, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.11–2.80), healthcare settings (aOR, 2.09, 95% CI: 1.01–4.31), or in the aviation and tourism sectors (aOR, 2.24, 95% CI: 1.14–4.40) was independently associated with the symptomatic state. Reporting at least one chronic comorbidity was also associated with symptomatic cases (aOR, 1.76, 95% CI: 1.03–3.01). Compared with asymptomatic cases, symptomatic cases had a prolonged duration of viral shedding and consistent odds of ≥2 positive COVID-19 tests result out of the three subsequent testing rounds. A substantial proportion of the diagnosed COVID-19 cases in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi were asymptomatic. Quarantining asymptomatic cases, implementing prevention measures, and raising awareness among populations working in high-risk settings are warranted.
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spelling pubmed-78806952021-02-23 Epidemiological characterization of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and positivity in subsequent RT-PCR tests in the United Arab Emirates Al-Rifai, Rami H. Acuna, Juan Al Hossany, Farida Ismail Aden, Bashir Al Memari, Shamma Abdullah Al Mazrouei, Shereena Khamis Ahmed, Luai A. PLoS One Research Article The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases could be symptomatic or asymptomatic. We (1) characterized and analyzed data collected from the first cohort of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, according to the symptomatic state, and (2) identified factors associated with the symptomatic state. The association between the symptomatic state and testing positive in three subsequent RT-PCR testing rounds was also quantified. Between February 28 and April 8, 2020, 1,249 cases were reported. Sociodemographic characteristics, working status, travel history, and chronic comorbidities of 791 cases were analyzed according to the symptomatic state (symptomatic or asymptomatic). After the first confirmatory test, the results of three subsequent tests were analyzed. The mean age of the 791 cases was 35.6 ± 12.7 years (range: 1–81). Nearly 57.0% of cases were symptomatic. The two most frequent symptoms were fever (58.0%) and cough (41.0%). Symptomatic cases (mean age 36.3 ± 12.6 years) were significantly older than asymptomatic cases (mean age 34.5 ± 12.7 years). Compared with nonworking populations, working in public places (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 1.76, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.11–2.80), healthcare settings (aOR, 2.09, 95% CI: 1.01–4.31), or in the aviation and tourism sectors (aOR, 2.24, 95% CI: 1.14–4.40) was independently associated with the symptomatic state. Reporting at least one chronic comorbidity was also associated with symptomatic cases (aOR, 1.76, 95% CI: 1.03–3.01). Compared with asymptomatic cases, symptomatic cases had a prolonged duration of viral shedding and consistent odds of ≥2 positive COVID-19 tests result out of the three subsequent testing rounds. A substantial proportion of the diagnosed COVID-19 cases in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi were asymptomatic. Quarantining asymptomatic cases, implementing prevention measures, and raising awareness among populations working in high-risk settings are warranted. Public Library of Science 2021-02-12 /pmc/articles/PMC7880695/ /pubmed/33577582 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246903 Text en © 2021 Al-Rifai et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Al-Rifai, Rami H.
Acuna, Juan
Al Hossany, Farida Ismail
Aden, Bashir
Al Memari, Shamma Abdullah
Al Mazrouei, Shereena Khamis
Ahmed, Luai A.
Epidemiological characterization of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and positivity in subsequent RT-PCR tests in the United Arab Emirates
title Epidemiological characterization of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and positivity in subsequent RT-PCR tests in the United Arab Emirates
title_full Epidemiological characterization of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and positivity in subsequent RT-PCR tests in the United Arab Emirates
title_fullStr Epidemiological characterization of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and positivity in subsequent RT-PCR tests in the United Arab Emirates
title_full_unstemmed Epidemiological characterization of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and positivity in subsequent RT-PCR tests in the United Arab Emirates
title_short Epidemiological characterization of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and positivity in subsequent RT-PCR tests in the United Arab Emirates
title_sort epidemiological characterization of symptomatic and asymptomatic covid-19 cases and positivity in subsequent rt-pcr tests in the united arab emirates
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7880695/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33577582
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246903
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