Point prevalence for COVID-19 among temporary tea farmers with mass screening: An example from Turkey

Abstract

Objective: Since the detection of the first COVID-19 case in Rize on 20th of March 2020, there were a total of 229 reported cases until 23 May 2020. There is currently no information available about the asymptomatic COVID-19 cases in Turkey. This study aims to detect the point prevalence of -19 among tea farmers who came to Rize from other provinces during May 2020. Methods: Among the 40 thousand estimated tea workers who came to Rize in May 2020, a total of 11,180 PCR results were evaluated. The specimens were collected by healthcare workers working for the Rize Provincial Directorate of Healh and analyzed in the Reference Laboratory for Microbiology of the Ministry of Health. The point prevalence of being PCR positive for -19 was calculated. Results: The point prevalence of -19 among asymptomatic tea workers was found to be 0.197%. Being -19 positive was not statistically significant with age groups and gender (p= 0.183 and p= 0.234, respectively). Conclusions: Sudden demographic changes in society is a major challenge for establishing a sustainable control policy for COVID-19. Defining the asymptomatic proportions of the population is crucial for planning effective control strategies. Calculating point prevalence among an asymptomatic population with mass screening is a useful tool for this purpose.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• mass screening
• point prevelance
• asemptomatik vakalar

Geçici çay işçilerinde kitlesel tarama ile COVID-19 nokta prevelansının belirlenmesi: Türkiye’den bir örnek

Abstract

Amaç: Rize’de 20 Mart 2020 tarihinde ilk COVID-19 vakasının tanınmasından itibaren 23 Mayıs 2020 tarihine kadar toplam 229 vaka rapor edilmiştir. Günümüzde Türkiye’de assemptomatik COVID-19 vakaları ile ilgili bir bilgi bulunmamaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı diğer illerden Rize’ye Mayıs 2020 döneminde çay tarımı amacı ile gelen kişler arasında COVID-19 nokta prevelansının belirlenmesidir. Yöntem: Rize iline Mayıs 2020 döneminde gelen tahminen 40 bin çay üreticisinde yapılan toplam 11180 PCR testi sonucu değerlendirilmiştir. Örnekler Rize İl Sağlık Müdürlüğü bünyesinde çalışan sağlık personeli tarafından alınmış ve Sağlık Bakanlığı’nın Referans Mikrobiyoloji Laboratuvarında değerlendirilmiştir. COVID-19 açısından pozitif sonucu olanlar için nokta prevelansı hesaplanmıştır. Bulgular: Asemptomatik çay üreticileri arasında COVID-19 nokta prevelansı %0.197 oalrak hesaplanmıştır. COVID-19 yönünden pozitif olmak ile yaş grupları ve cinsiyet arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir ilişki bulunmamıştır (sırasıyla p=0.183 and p=0.234). Sonuç: Toplumdaki ani demografik değişiklikler, COVID-19 ile mücadelede sürdürülebilir kontrol politikaları belirlenmesinde önemli bir zorluktur. Nüfus içindeki asemptomatik kişilerin belirlenmesi, etkili kontrol stratejilerinin planlanabilmesi için bütük önem taşımaktadır. Kitlesel tarama yöntemi ile asemtomatik bir grup içindeki nokta prevelansının belirlenmesi bu amaca ulaşmak için kullanışlı bir yöntemdir.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• kitlesel tarama
• nokta prevelansı
• asemptomatik vakalar

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