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Massive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Testing on Rural Communities in Manabi Province (Ecuador) Reveals Severe COVID-19 Outbreaks

2021; American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Volume: 104; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4269/ajtmh.20-1208

1476-1645

Esteban Ortiz‐Prado, Aquiles R. Henríquez-Trujillo, Ismar A. Rivera‐Olivero, Byron Freire‐Paspuel, Alexander Paolo Vallejo-Janeta, Tannya Lozada, Miguel Ángel García-Bereguiain, Lorie A. Kloda,

COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies

Rural communities from Latin America are particularly susceptible to develop serious outbreaks of infectious diseases. Inadequate diagnosis and poor health infrastructure jeopardize proper contact tracing and other actions to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in the region. We herein describe the preliminary data of our ongoing fieldwork of massive testing among nonhospitalized rural population in Manabi Province of the coastal region of Ecuador. A total of 1,479 people from six different rural communities were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR following the CDC protocol; 350 individuals tested positive, resulting in an overall attack rate of 23.7% for SARS-CoV-2 infection. This ultrahigh prevalence must urge to the public health authorities from Ecuador to take immediate actions to counteract this dramatic scenario in Manabi Province and to improve SARS-CoV-2 testing countrywide.