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The role of community pharmacies in early detection of suspected COVID-19 cases in 2020: lessons from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Mohamed, Hussein; Faini, Diana; Ngailo, Lusungu; Munishi, Castory; Mutayoba, Rita; Mmbuji, Peter; Mponela, Marcelina; Subi, Leonard; Kwesi, Elias; Mpembeni, Rose; Jalloh, Mohamed F; Gatei, Wangeci; Bakari, Muhammad; Mghamba, Janneth.
Afiliação
  • Mohamed H; Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of.
  • Faini D; Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of fainidiana@gmail.com.
  • Ngailo L; African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) Health Africa, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of.
  • Munishi C; Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of.
  • Mutayoba R; African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) Health Africa, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of.
  • Mmbuji P; Tanzania Country Office of the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
  • Mponela M; Tanzania Country Office of the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
  • Subi L; Ministry of Health, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of.
  • Kwesi E; Ministry of Health, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of.
  • Mpembeni R; Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of.
  • Jalloh MF; Tanzania Country Office of the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
  • Gatei W; Tanzania Country Office of the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
  • Bakari M; Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of.
  • Mghamba J; Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of.
BMJ Glob Health ; 8(2)2023 02.
Article em En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36804730
ABSTRACT
Tanzania reported its first COVID-19 case on 16 March 2020. We conducted event-based surveillance of COVID-19 suspect cases among pharmacy clients presenting with respiratory symptoms and influenza-like illness to increase early and rapid detection of COVID-19 cases and mitigate transmission. We conveniently sampled 103 pharmacies from Dar es Salaam, the epicentre for the COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania at the time. Between 23 April 2020 and 18 May 2020, 67% of the pharmacies (69/103) reported an observed increase in the number of clients presenting with respiratory symptoms and influenza-like illness compared with the 1 month before the COVID-19 outbreak. In the 1-month surveillance period, the participating pharmacies recorded 75 alerts of COVID-19 suspect cases and referred all suspected COVID-19 cases to rapid response teams for additional symptomatic screening and SARS-CoV-2 testing. A key implementation challenge was that some clients identified as COVID-19 suspected cases were hesitant to provide follow-up information for linkage to rapid response teams. Addressing concerns among drug dispensers in the participating pharmacies and informing them of the benefits of the surveillance activity were important implementation components. Our approach demonstrates the overall feasibility of rapidly implementing an event-based surveillance system for an emerging health threat through an existing network of pharmacies within the community. The approach and tools used in this surveillance activity could be adapted in similar settings to detect and generate alerts of disease outbreaks in the community that other surveillance systems may otherwise miss.
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Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Farmácias / Influenza Humana / COVID-19 Tipo de estudo: Diagnostic_studies / Screening_studies Limite: Humans País/Região como assunto: Africa Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2023 Tipo de documento: Article

Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Farmácias / Influenza Humana / COVID-19 Tipo de estudo: Diagnostic_studies / Screening_studies Limite: Humans País/Região como assunto: Africa Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2023 Tipo de documento: Article