| Title: |
Prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in people attending the two main Goma markets in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Authors: |
Mitangala, Prudence Ndeba; Irenge, Leonid M.; Musubao, Edgar Tsongo; Kahindo, Jean Bosco Mbeva; Ayonga, Patrick Ndeba; Kyembwa Safari, Israël; Kubuya, Janvier Bonane; Ntabe, Edmon Namegabe; Kabangwa Senga, Raphaël Kakongo; Mutombo, Guy Ndongala; Ambroise, Jérôme; Gala, Jean-Luc |
| Source: |
Epidemiology and Infection ; volume 151 ; ISSN 0950-2688 1469-4409 |
| Publisher Information: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
| Publication Year: |
2023 |
| Description: |
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) officially reports low coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) prevalence. This cross-sectional study, conducted between September and November 2021, assessed the COVID-19 seroprevalence in people attending Goma’s two largest markets, Kituku and Virunga. A similar study in a slum of Bukavu overlapped for 1 month using identical methods. COVID-19-unvaccinated participants (n = 796 including 454 vendors and 342 customers, 60% of whom were women) were surveyed. The median age of vendors and customers was 34.2 and 30.1 years, respectively. The crude and adjusted anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence rates were 70.2% (95% CI 66.9–73.4%) and 98.8% (95% CI 94.1–100%), respectively, with no difference between vendors and customers. COVID-19 symptoms reported by survey participants in the previous 6 months were mild or absent in 58.9% and 41.1% of participants with anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, respectively. No COVID-19-seropositive participants reported hospitalisation in the last 6 months. These findings are consistent with those reported in Bukavu. They confirm that SARS-CoV-2 spread without causing severe symptoms in densely populated settlements and markets and suggest that many COVID-19 cases went unreported. Based on these results, the relevance of an untargeted hypothetical vaccination programme in these communities should be questioned. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| DOI: |
10.1017/s0950268823001498 |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0950268823001498; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0950268823001498 |
| Rights: |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.6E47B8A1 |
| Database: |
BASE |