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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
general
Escalating spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection after school reopening among students in hotspot districts of Oromia Region in Ethiopia: Longitudinal study
PLoS ONE, Volume 18, No. 2 February, Article e0280801, Year 2023
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Description
Background COVID-19 pandemic caused by extended variants of SARS-CoV-2 has infected more than 350 million people, resulting in over 5.5 million deaths globally. However, the actual burden of the pandemic in Africa, particularly among children, remains largely unknown. We aimed to assess the seroepidemiological changes of SARS-CoV-2 infection after school reopening among school children in Oromia, Ethiopia. Methods A prospective cohort study involving students aged 10 years and older were used. A serological survey was performed twice, at school reopening in December 2020 and four months later in April 2021. Participants were selected from 60 schools located in 15 COVID-19 hotspot districts in Oromia Region. Serology tests were performed by Elecsys anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid assay. Data were collected using CSentry CSProData Entry 7.2.1 and exported to STATA version 14.2 for data cleaning and analysis. Results A total of 1884 students were recruited at baseline, and 1271 completed the follow-up. SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence almost doubled in four months from 25.7% at baseline to 46.3% in the second round, with a corresponding seroincidence of 1910 per 100,000 person-week. Seroincidence was found to be higher among secondary school students (grade 9–12) compared to primary school students (grade 4–8) (RR = 1.6, 95% CI 1.21–2.22) and among those with large family size (> = 5) than those with a family size of <3 (RR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.09–4.17). The increase in SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among the students corresponded with Ethiopia’s second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. Conclusion SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among students in hotspot districts of the Oromia Region was high even at baseline and almost doubled within four months of school recommencement. The high seroincidence coincided with the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in Ethiopia, indicating a possible contribution to school opening for the new outbreak wave. © 2023 Gobena et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC9897530/bin/pone.0280801.s001.docx
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC9897530/bin/pone.0280801.s002.docx
Authors & Co-Authors
Gobena, Dabesa
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
Oromia Regional Health Bureau
Ethiopia, Jimma
Jimma University
Gudina, Esayas Kebede
Ethiopia, Jimma
Jimma University
Yilma, Daniel
Ethiopia, Jimma
Jimma University
Girma, Tsinuel
Canada, Vancouver
The University of British Columbia
Gebre, Getu
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
Oromia Regional Health Bureau
Gelanew, Tesfaye
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
Armauer Hanson Research Institute
Abdissa, Alemseged L.
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
Armauer Hanson Research Institute
Mulleta, Daba
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
Oromia Regional Health Bureau
Sarbessa, Tarekegn
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
Oromia Regional Health Bureau
Assefa, Henok
Ethiopia, Jimma
Jimma University
Woldie, Mirkuzie K.
Canada, Vancouver
The University of British Columbia
Shumi, Gemechu
Canada, Vancouver
The University of British Columbia
Kenate, Birhanu
Canada, Vancouver
The University of British Columbia
Kroidl, Arne L.
Germany, Munich
Ludwig-maximilians-universität München
Germany, Munich
Partner Site Munich
Wieser, Andreas
Germany, Munich
Ludwig-maximilians-universität München
Germany, Munich
Partner Site Munich
Eshetu, Beza
Ethiopia, Jimma
Jimma University
Degfie, Tizta Tilahun
Canada, Vancouver
The University of British Columbia
Mekonnen, Zeleke Abebaw
Ethiopia, Jimma
Jimma University
Statistics
Citations: 1
Authors: 18
Affiliations: 6
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0280801
ISSN:
19326203
Research Areas
Covid
Health System And Policy
Maternal And Child Health
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Cohort Study
Study Approach
Quantitative
Study Locations
Ethiopia