Coronavirus 2019-like illness and public adherence to preventive measures, Sudan 2020

In December 2019, a novel corona virus disease was identified and was responsible for the new cases of respiratory tract infections in Wuhan, China. This virus was responsible for the pandemic with more than 84 million cases and 1.82 million deaths worldwide. In Sudan till now the reported cases exceed 23,000 with 1.400 deaths. This study aims to determine the prevalence of COVID-19 suspected cases, health seeking behavior and public adherence to protective measures.

Descriptive community based cross-sectional study using nonprobability snowball sampling technique, conducted in Khartoum state 2020. 3499 respondents with diverse socio-demographic backgrounds were finally enrolled in the study. Data was collected through Manitoba Coronavirus 2019 screening form which distributed through online anonymous Google forms. Data was entered and analyzed by Statistical Package of Social Sciences version 23.

The study revealed that 26.5% of the respondents were clinically suspected with headache or fatigability being the most common symptom followed by pharyngitis and then dry cough. Asthma and chronic respiratory disease as the commonest comorbidities. Wearing facial masks and regular hand washing were found to be the most used protective measures with only 39.4% implicates social distancing in their daily life. Health seeking behavior was significantly different among suspected respondents the majority tend to use antibiotics than to isolate themselves or undergo testing.

COVID-19 suspected cases were prevalent among Sudanese population; screening capacity has to be increased with more strong policies for implications of personal protective measures in the daily life.