TITLE:
Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and Emergence of UK Variant in Zintan City of Libya
AUTHORS:
Abdulwahab Kammon, Abdulhmid Giweli, Esadk Erhouma, Elhadi Rammah, Ashour Elusta, Salem Knifo, Walid Ali, Walid Benbubaker, Fawzi Ebrahim, Ali Elarabi
KEYWORDS:
SARS-CoV-2, UK Variant, Epidemiology, Zintan, Libya, rRT-PCR
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Epidemiology,
Vol.11 No.4,
October
11,
2021
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. The disease was first broke out in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China and subsequently spread to all countries and was considered by WHO as a worldwide pandemic. This study is aimed to determine the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and the presence of UK variants in Zintan city of Libya taking some risk factors into account. Methods: In a cross-sectional retrospective study, a total of 15486 nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from COVID-19 suspected patients, travelers and people need disease-free certificates for hospital admission, etc. The samples were collected during the period from August 2020 to June 2021 and tested using real-time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR) kits for SARS-CoV-2 and UK variants. Age groups, sex, and monthly weather were considered as risk factors. Results: The positivity rate of COVID-19 in Zintan city was estimated to be (3891; 25.12%) for the period from August 2020 to June 2021. Females showed significantly (p Conclusions: Health Authorities are encouraged to continue implementing the control measures during the decrease phase of infection to stop transmission of the virus in the next wave. Early detection of new variants and studying their genetic characteristics play a valuable role in prevention and control.