Conference abstract
COVID-19 cases in Cameroon, from March to October 2020: who were they and how they contracted the infection?
Pan African Medical Journal - Conference Proceedings. 2023:18(3).03
Oct 2023.
doi: 10.11604/pamj-cp.2023.18.3.2046
Archived on: 03 Oct 2023
Contact the corresponding author
Keywords: Sociodemographic, clinical, exposure characteristics, COVID-19, Cameroon
Oral presentation
COVID-19 cases in Cameroon, from March to October 2020: who were they and how they contracted the infection?
Dongmo Tsopjio Marie Micheline Sonfack1,&, Anya Priscilla2, Bohimbo Carole3, Mendjime Patricia2, Etoundi Georges Alain2
1Division of Operational Research in Health/Ministry of Public Health, Yaoundé, Cameroon, 2Departement for the control of Disease, Epidemics and Pandemics/Cameroon Field Epidemiology Training Program-Ministry of Public Health, Yaoundé, Cameroon, 3Advance Field Epidemiology Training Program in Cameroon/World Health Organization-Cameroon
&Corresponding author
Introduction: Cameroon confirmed its first COVID-19 case on March 6, 2020. As of August 17, 2022, a total of 122,375 COVID-19 confirmed cases with 1,941 deaths (Case fatality rate 1.6%) were reported (Cameroon COVID-19 SITREP). We aimed to describe sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cameroon in 2020.
Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the national COVID-19 database from March-October 2020. Group variables were sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, occupation), clinical (status, symptoms), and exposure characteristics. We used MS Excel 2016 software to analyze data.
Results: thirty thousand and one hundred and thirty-six (30,136) suspected cases were investigated in the 10 regions of Cameroon, among which 15.2% confirmed positive for COVID-19. Clinically, out of the 4586 confirmed cases, 29.7% were asymptomatic. The main clinical symptoms were cough 31.2%, headache 25.7%, fever 23.2%, muscle pain 17.7%, shortness of breath 15.3% and nasal secretion 13.1%. Regarding exposure, 54.5% were present at a gathering in the last 14 days before the onset of symptoms, 45.2% had been in contact with a COVID-19 patient in the last 21 days, 37.5% had traveled within the country, 19.5% had traveled outside the country and 25.9% didn’t report any exposure.
Conclusion: our study showed that men were more affected by cases. Mass gatherings during the last 14 days before the onset of symptoms were the most frequent exposure. However, we must emphasize sensitization on barrier measures, especially at gatherings.
COVID-19 cases in Cameroon, from March to October 2020: who were they and how they contracted the infection?
Dongmo Tsopjio Marie Micheline Sonfack1,&, Anya Priscilla2, Bohimbo Carole3, Mendjime Patricia2, Etoundi Georges Alain2
1Division of Operational Research in Health/Ministry of Public Health, Yaoundé, Cameroon, 2Departement for the control of Disease, Epidemics and Pandemics/Cameroon Field Epidemiology Training Program-Ministry of Public Health, Yaoundé, Cameroon, 3Advance Field Epidemiology Training Program in Cameroon/World Health Organization-Cameroon
&Corresponding author
Introduction: Cameroon confirmed its first COVID-19 case on March 6, 2020. As of August 17, 2022, a total of 122,375 COVID-19 confirmed cases with 1,941 deaths (Case fatality rate 1.6%) were reported (Cameroon COVID-19 SITREP). We aimed to describe sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cameroon in 2020.
Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the national COVID-19 database from March-October 2020. Group variables were sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, occupation), clinical (status, symptoms), and exposure characteristics. We used MS Excel 2016 software to analyze data.
Results: thirty thousand and one hundred and thirty-six (30,136) suspected cases were investigated in the 10 regions of Cameroon, among which 15.2% confirmed positive for COVID-19. Clinically, out of the 4586 confirmed cases, 29.7% were asymptomatic. The main clinical symptoms were cough 31.2%, headache 25.7%, fever 23.2%, muscle pain 17.7%, shortness of breath 15.3% and nasal secretion 13.1%. Regarding exposure, 54.5% were present at a gathering in the last 14 days before the onset of symptoms, 45.2% had been in contact with a COVID-19 patient in the last 21 days, 37.5% had traveled within the country, 19.5% had traveled outside the country and 25.9% didn’t report any exposure.
Conclusion: our study showed that men were more affected by cases. Mass gatherings during the last 14 days before the onset of symptoms were the most frequent exposure. However, we must emphasize sensitization on barrier measures, especially at gatherings.
