Abu-Raddad, Laith J; Chemaitelly, Hiam; Ayoub, Houssein H; Al Kanaani, Zaina; Al Khal, Abdullatif; Al Kuwari, Einas; Butt, Adeel A; Coyle, Peter; Jeremijenko, Andrew; Kaleeckal, Anvar Hassan; +13 more... Latif, Ali Nizar; Owen, Robert C; Rahim, Hanan F Abdul; Al Abdulla, Samya A; Al Kuwari, Mohamed G; Kandy, Mujeeb C; Saeb, Hatoun; Ahmed, Shazia Nadeem N; Al Romaihi, Hamad Eid; Bansal, Devendra; Dalton, Louise; Al-Thani, Mohamed H; Bertollini, Roberto; (2021) Characterizing the Qatar advanced-phase SARS-CoV-2 epidemic. Scientific reports, 11 (1). 6233-. ISSN 2045-2322 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85428-7
Permanent Identifier
Use this Digital Object Identifier when citing or linking to this resource.
Abstract
The overarching objective of this study was to provide the descriptive epidemiology of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic in Qatar by addressing specific research questions through a series of national epidemiologic studies. Sources of data were the centralized and standardized national databases for SARS-CoV-2 infection. By July 10, 2020, 397,577 individuals had been tested for SARS-CoV-2 using polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR), of whom 110,986 were positive, a positivity cumulative rate of 27.9% (95% CI 27.8-28.1%). As of July 5, case severity rate, based on World Health Organization (WHO) severity classification, was 3.4% and case fatality rate was 1.4 per 1,000 persons. Age was by far the strongest predictor of severe, critical, or fatal infection. PCR positivity of nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs in a national community survey (May 6-7) including 1,307 participants was 14.9% (95% CI 11.5-19.0%); 58.5% of those testing positive were asymptomatic. Across 448 ad-hoc testing campaigns in workplaces and residential areas including 26,715 individuals, pooled mean PCR positivity was 15.6% (95% CI 13.7-17.7%). SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence was 24.0% (95% CI 23.3-24.6%) in 32,970 residual clinical blood specimens. Antibody prevalence was only 47.3% (95% CI 46.2-48.5%) in those who had at least one PCR positive result, but 91.3% (95% CI 89.5-92.9%) among those who were PCR positive > 3 weeks before serology testing. Qatar has experienced a large SARS-CoV-2 epidemic that is rapidly declining, apparently due to growing immunity levels in the population.
Item Type | Article |
---|---|
Faculty and Department | Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health > Dept of Infectious Disease Epidemiology (-2023) |
Research Centre | Covid-19 Research |
PubMed ID | 33737535 |
Elements ID | 158402 |
Download
Filename: Characterizing the Qatar advanced-phase SARS-CoV-2 epidemic.pdf
Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0
Download