COVID-19 in Suspected Cases at Federal Medical Centre Keffi

This study aimed to determine the epidemiological and clinical features of COVID-19 infection among suspected cases accessing healthcare at Federal Medical Centre Keffi Nasarawa State, Nigeria between September 2020 and December 2021. The study was retrospective and utilized information from 1929 patients of both genders and of different age groups including their clinical data from the hospital’s electronic medical records and patient’s case investigation forms. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from the subjects and tested using the GeneXpert proprietary platform. The study revealed that 502 of the subjects tested positive for COVID-19. The Chi-Square test shows that there was a significant relationship between the infection and age of the subjects. Also, the study revealed that females were infected more compared to male subjects. Furthermore, the Chi-Square test revealed cough to be the predominant symptom. The study recommends that the Government should prioritize vaccination and targeted screening of vulnerable age groups who could either be at high risk of the infection or serve as carriers. The use of face masks is highly recommended as coughing was found to be associated with the infection. While gender was found to be significantly associated with COVID-19, the reason for this association is unclear, therefore, it is recommended that gender be put into consideration when designing intervention and screening programmes in future outbreaks. There is a need for further studies to understand the disease transmission dynamics which will help in forestalling future pandemics.