The burden of respiratory conditions in the emergency department of Muhimbili National Hospital in Tanzania in the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic

A cross sectional descriptive study

Bibliographic Data

ID19591018
AuthorsHarrieth P Ndumwa (0000-0003-0681-880X, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, corresponding author), Erick A Mboya (0000-0002-3279-6256, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences), Davis Mlay (0000-0003-0563-8188, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences), Davis Elias Amani, Ramadhani Mashoka (Muhimbili National Hospital), Paulina Nicholaus (Muhimbili National Hospital), Rashan Haniffa (0000-0002-8288-449X, Royal London Hospital), Abigail Beane (0000-0001-7046-1580, Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit), Abi Beane (0000-0003-4058-7670), Juma A Mfinanga (Muhimbili National Hospital), Juma Mfinanga, Bruno Sunguya (0000-0003-3625-0725, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences), H R Sawe (0000-0002-0395-5385, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences), Tim Baker (0000-0002-6423-9948, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences)
EditorsReuben Kiggundu (0000-0001-6141-9436)
Year2022
Volume2
Issue12
Pagese0000781
Publication date2022-12-09
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePLOS Global Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2767-3375 • E-ISSN: 2767-3375
PublisherPublic Library of Science (PLoS) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1371/journal.pgph.0000781
PMID36962777
OpenAlexW4312059080
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited15

Globally, respiratory diseases cause 10 million deaths every year. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the burden of respiratory illness increased and led to significant morbidity and mortality in both high- and low-income countries. This study assessed the burden and trend of respiratory conditions among patients presenting to the emergency department of Muhimbili National Hospital in Tanzania and compared with national COVID-19 data to determine if this knowledge may be useful for the surveillance of disease outbreaks in settings of limited specific diagnostic testing. The study used routinely collected data from the electronic information system in the Emergency Medical Department (EMD) of Muhimbili National Hospital in Tanzania. All patients presenting to the EMD in a 2-year period, 2020 and 2021 with respiratory conditions were included. Descriptive statistics and graphical visualizations were used to describe the burden of respiratory conditions and the trends over time and to compare to national Tanzanian COVID-19 data during the same period. One in every four patients who presented to the EMD of the Muhimbili National Hospital had a respiratory condition– 1039 patients per month. Of the 24,942 patients, 52% were males, and the median age (IQR) was 34.7 (21.7, 53.7) years. The most common respiratory diagnoses were pneumonia (52%), upper respiratory tract infections (31%), asthma (4.8%) and suspected COVID-19 (2.5%). There were four peaks of respiratory conditions coinciding with the four waves in the national COVID-19 data. We conclude that the burden of respiratory conditions among patients presenting to the EMD of Muhimbili National Hospital is high. The trend shows four peaks of respiratory conditions in 2020–2021 seen to coincide with the four waves in the national COVID-19 data. Real-time hospital-based surveillance tools may be useful for early detection of respiratory disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies in settings with limited diagnostic testing

Asthma · Disease · Emergency department · Geography · Intensive care medicine · Outbreak · Pandemic · Pneumonia · Respiratory system · Respiratory tract infections · Tanzania · COVID-19 and healthcare impacts · COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing · COVID-19 epidemiological studies · Medicine · Emergency Medicine · Internal Medicine · Pediatrics · Virology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access