Recurrent Prevalence of COVID-19 Symptoms among Inhabitants of Madobi Town, Kano-Nigeria Coincides with the Period of Disease Outbreak in the State: A Timeframe from April – May 2020
Publication Date: 15/06/2020
Author(s): Mukhtar Y., Maigari A.K., Galalain A.M., Nuhu Y., Abdu K., Suleiman A.S., Yunusa U.M., Bashir R.A., Tukur S., Adam A.I., Yakudima I.I.
Volume/Issue: Volume 3 , Issue 2 (2020)
Abstract:
Ever since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection which emanated from Wuhan, a city in Hubei province of China and subsequently leads to the current global pandemic, the disease has been travelling and fast spreading across various nations of the world. As of 07 June 2020, there were 3,230,031 active cases and 406,343 deaths reported globally. Out of this, Nigeria current cases stood at 8,173 persons with 354 deaths, while specifically in Kano State; the total active cases hit 501 with 48 deaths respectively. Not much long after confirmation of the first positive index case of this villain virus in Kano city, on 11th April, 2020, there have been frequent reports of people across the state exhibiting symptoms (such as high fever, headache, cough, loss of smell, loss of taste, fatigue, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea and shortness of breath) that are similar to COVID-19 infection as defined by the Nigerian Center for Diseases Control (NCDC), but however with subsequent high recoveries. Owing to this development, the present study entitled to assess the situation pertaining to occurrence of these cases, recoveries and the method of treatment applied in the study location. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed and administered to a total of fifty (50) respondents pulled out randomly from the study area. It was found out that 41(82%) of the respondents catches common cold/catarrh during the timeframe of the study against the remaining 09(18%) who did not. In general, out of the 50 samples interviewed, 96% representing 48 persons exhibited two or more of symptoms that are similar to COVID-19 infection, while 02 (4%) did not experience any of the signs. However, out of these 48 suspected persons, 32(66.7%) receive medical care either from hospital or pharmacy, while 16(33.3%) of them did not seek for any medical assistance. In terms of body conditions improvement, 42(87.5%) persons recovered fully from the symptoms and 06(12.5%) are still battling with one or two of the symptoms. Moreover, 10(20.8%) persons reported to have use herbal therapy during the course of the treatment while 38(79.2%) did not. Based on the outcome of this finding, it can be deduced that the possibility of communal COVID-19 transmission among the inhabitants of the study area during the timeframe cannot be totally overruled even though that no single COVID-19 confirmatory test was carried out. Hence, there is need for government and other concerned authorities to establish more testing facilities in remote areas and also review their protocols towards containment of this pandemic as this unending lockdown seem to be no longer sustainable.
