Clotaire Donatien Rafaï
Laboratoire National de Biologie Clinique et de Santé Publique, Bangui, République Centrafrique; Faculté des Sciences de la Santé, Université de Bangui, Centrafrique de la Santé et de la Population, Bangui, République Centrafricaine
Luc Salva Heredeibona
Ministry of Health and population, Bangui, Central African Republic
Ernest Lango-Yaya
Laboratoire National de Biologie Clinique et de Santé Publique, Bangui, République Centrafrique; Faculté des Sciences de la Santé, Université de Bangui, Centrafrique de la Santé et de la Population, Bangui, République Centrafricaine
Roseline Darnicka Belizaire
World Health Organization, Bangui, Central African Republic
Oscar Senzongo
Laboratoire National de Biologie Clinique et de Santé Publique, Bangui, République Centrafrique
Placide Mbala
National Institute of Biomedical Research of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Maurel Ouoko Fa-Ti-Gbia
Laboratoire National de Biologie Clinique et de Santé Publique, Bangui, République Centrafrique
Javan Allon Bengba
Laboratoire National de Biologie Clinique et de Santé Publique, Bangui, République Centrafrique
Simon Pounguinza
Laboratoire National de Biologie Clinique et de Santé Publique, Bangui, République Centrafrique
Jephté Estimé Kaleb Kandou
Laboratoire National de Biologie Clinique et de Santé Publique, Bangui, République Centrafrique
Daniel Yvon Gonessa
Laboratoire National de Biologie Clinique et de Santé Publique, Bangui, République Centrafrique
Wilfried Koyaweda
Laboratoire National de Biologie Clinique et de Santé Publique, Bangui, République Centrafrique
Ulrich Vickos
Laboratoire National de Biologie Clinique et de Santé Publique, Bangui, République Centrafrique
Ginette Claude Kalla
Laboratoire de Virologie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
Wilfried Sylvain Nambei
Faculté des Sciences de la Santé, Université de Bangui, Centrafrique de la Santé et de la Population, Bangui, République Centrafricaine
Pierre Somse
Ministry of Health and population, Bangui, Central African Republic
Laurent Bélec
Laboratoire de Virologie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
Gérard Grésenguet
Faculté des Sciences de la Santé, Université de Bangui, Centrafrique de la Santé et de la Population, Bangui, République Centrafricaine
Boniface Koffi
Laboratoire National de Biologie Clinique et de Santé Publique, Bangui, République Centrafrique; Faculté des Sciences de la Santé, Université de Bangui, Centrafrique de la Santé et de la Population, Bangui, République Centrafricaine
François-Xavier Mbopi-Keou
Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Abstract
Introduction: the National Laboratory of Clinical Biology and Public Health (NLBPH) in Bangui in the Central African Republic (CAR) carries out the vast majority of molecular screening tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection nationwide. TThis study aimed to show the contribution of molecular diagnosis and genomic surveillance in monitoring the evolution of longitudinal variations of the SARS-CoV-2 infection epidemic in CAR between 2020 and the end of 2022.
Methods: this is an observational study on the variations in the prevalence of detection of SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR at the NLCBPH from nasopharyngeal samples taken prospectively over a period of 3 years since the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic. A subgroup of SARS-CoV-2 positive samples was selected for molecular sequencing performed by Illumina® and MinIon® at the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Results: from March 2020 to December 31, 2022, 88,442 RT-PCR tests were carried out (4/5 of the country) and detected 9,156 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in 5 successive waves. The average age of the patients was 39.8 years (extremes ranging from to 92 years). Age(P=0.001), sex(P=0.001) and symptom presentation(P=0.001) were significantly associated with RT-PCR test positivity. Among the different variants identified during successive waves, the Omicron variant predominated during the last two waves.
Conclusion: this prospective study over a period of 3 years, marked by 5 successive waves, made it possible to report that age, sex and the presence of clinical symptoms are associated with RT-PCR positivity. Among the different variants identified during successive waves, the Omicron variant predominated during the last two waves.
