Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul:108:531-536.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.06.012. Epub 2021 Jun 10.

COVID-19 outbreaks at shelters for women who are victims of gender-based violence from Ecuador

Alexander Paolo Vallejo-Janeta  1 , Diana Morales-Jadan  1 , Byron Freire-Paspuel  1 , Tannya Lozada  2 , Cesar Cherrez-Bohorquez  3 , Miguel Angel Garcia-Bereguiain  4 ; UDLA COVID-19 team
Collaborators, Affiliations

COVID-19 outbreaks at shelters for women who are victims of gender-based violence from Ecuador

Alexander Paolo Vallejo-Janeta et al. Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Background: One of the constraints in containing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador is limited testing capacity, especially in high-risk populations such as people living in humanitarian shelters.

Objectives: The "United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees" office in Ecuador in collaboration with "Universidad de Las Américas" performed surveillance screening at shelters for women victims of gender-based violence. They had been granted access to RT-qPCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis since July 2020, a few weeks after the general population lockdown was lifted.

Results: From 411 people tested, 52 tests were SARS-CoV-2 positive, yielding an overall high attack rate of 12.65%. Moreover, COVID-19 outbreaks were found in nine of 11 shelters that were included in the study. While attacks rates varied among shelters, no association was found with occupancy.

Conclusion: This study is key to clarifying the epidemiological situation in this highly vulnerable population in Latin America. It highlights the importance of mass testing beyond the symptomatic population to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Ecuador; Gender-based violence; SARS-CoV-2; Shelters.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Description of study population. (A) Number of SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR tests applied in different shelter locations. (B) Distribution of individuals tested by sex. (C) Distribution of individuals tested according to age. (D) Distribution of individuals who tested positive and negative.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR-positive cases according to sex (A) and age (B) at the shelters for women victims of gender-based violence included in the study.
Figure 3
Figure 3
SARS-CoV-2 viral load distribution according to sex (A) and age ranges (0–14: children, 15–39: young adults, 40–50: adults); (B) for the positive individuals included on the study (viral load is expressed as log10 copies/ml).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ayittey F.K., Dhar B.K., Anani G., Chiwero N.B. Gendered burdens and impacts of SARS-CoV-2: a review. Health Care Women Int. 2021;41(11–12):1210–1225. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33616506. [cited 12 March 2021] - PubMed
    1. CDC . 2021. Interim guidelines for collecting and handling of clinical specimens for COVID-19 testing; pp. 3–8.
    1. Del Brutto O.H., Costa A.F., Mera R.M., Recalde B.Y., Bustos J.A., García H.H. Household clustering of SARS-CoV-2 in community settings: a study from rural Ecuador. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020;103(September (3)):1207–1210. Available from: https://www.ajtmh.org/view/journals/tpmd/103/3/article-p1207.xml. [cited 11 March 2021] - PMC - PubMed
    1. Freire-Paspuel B., Garcia-Bereguiain M.A. Poor sensitivity of “AccuPower SARS‑CoV‑2 real time RT‑PCR kit (Bioneer, South Korea)”. Virol J. 2020;17(178) doi: 10.1186/s12985-020-01445-4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Freire-Paspuel B., Garcia-Bereguiain M.A. Analytical sensitivity and clinical performance of a triplex RT-qPCR assay using CDC N1, N2, and RP targets for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis. Int J Infect Dis. 2021;102:14–16. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.10.047. - DOI - PMC - PubMed