Georeferencing of COVID-19 Positive Nasopharyngeal Swabs to Support Emergency Management in an Area of Northern Italy
Spatial distribution heterogeneity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been observed in several countries. While previous studies have covered vast geographic areas, detailed analyses on smaller territories are not available to date. The aim of our study was to unders...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/11/1/3 |
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| author | Chiara Airoldi Marinella Bertolotti Maria Rowinski Marta Betti Alessandro Pecere Andrea Sarro Genny Franceschetti Guglielmo Pacileo Antonio Maconi Daniela Ferrante |
| author_facet | Chiara Airoldi Marinella Bertolotti Maria Rowinski Marta Betti Alessandro Pecere Andrea Sarro Genny Franceschetti Guglielmo Pacileo Antonio Maconi Daniela Ferrante |
| author_sort | Chiara Airoldi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Spatial distribution heterogeneity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been observed in several countries. While previous studies have covered vast geographic areas, detailed analyses on smaller territories are not available to date. The aim of our study was to understand the spatial spread of SARS-CoV-2 in a province of Northern Italy through the analysis of positive nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs. The study was conducted on subjects who lived in the province of Alessandria with at least one positive NP swab between 2 March and 22 December 2020. To investigate if clustering occurred, the proportion of SARS-CoV-2 positive subjects over the total number of residents in each small administrative subregion was calculated and then mapped. A total of 17,260 subjects with at least one positive NP swab were included; the median age was 54 years (Interquartile range 38–72) and 54.9% (<i>n</i> = 9478) of our study population were female. Among the 192 towns scanned, 26 showed a prevalence between 5% and 7.5%, one between 7.5% and 10% and two with more than 10% positive swabs. The territories with a higher prevalence of positive subjects were located in areas with at least one nursing home and potential clusters were observed within these structures. The maps produced may be considered a useful and important monitoring system to identify areas with a significant and relevant diffusion of SARS-CoV-2. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:21:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fbb769ee26a04c95a492fa8984d3dbf8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2220-9964 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:21:30Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
| spelling | doaj.art-fbb769ee26a04c95a492fa8984d3dbf82023-11-23T13:59:31ZengMDPI AGISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information2220-99642021-12-01111310.3390/ijgi11010003Georeferencing of COVID-19 Positive Nasopharyngeal Swabs to Support Emergency Management in an Area of Northern ItalyChiara Airoldi0Marinella Bertolotti1Maria Rowinski2Marta Betti3Alessandro Pecere4Andrea Sarro5Genny Franceschetti6Guglielmo Pacileo7Antonio Maconi8Daniela Ferrante9Medical Statistics, Department of Translational Medicine, Università Degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, ItalyInfrastruttura Ricerca Formazione e Innovazione, Dipartimento Attività Integrate Ricerca Innovazione, Azienda Ospedaliera SS Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo, 15121 Alessandria, ItalyInfrastruttura Ricerca Formazione e Innovazione, Dipartimento Attività Integrate Ricerca Innovazione, Azienda Ospedaliera SS Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo, 15121 Alessandria, ItalyInfrastruttura Ricerca Formazione e Innovazione, Dipartimento Attività Integrate Ricerca Innovazione, Azienda Ospedaliera SS Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo, 15121 Alessandria, ItalyDepartment of Pharmaceutical Science, Università Degli Studi di Milano, 20100 Milano, ItalyDepartment of Primary Cares, Local Health Department, 28100 Novara, ItalyDepartment of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, ItalyGoverno Clinico - Qualità – Accreditamento, Dipartimento Attività Integrate Ricerca Innovazione, Azienda Sanitaria Locale ASL AL, 15121 Alessandria, ItalyInfrastruttura Ricerca Formazione e Innovazione, Dipartimento Attività Integrate Ricerca Innovazione, Azienda Ospedaliera SS Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo, 15121 Alessandria, ItalyMedical Statistics, Department of Translational Medicine, Università Degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, ItalySpatial distribution heterogeneity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been observed in several countries. While previous studies have covered vast geographic areas, detailed analyses on smaller territories are not available to date. The aim of our study was to understand the spatial spread of SARS-CoV-2 in a province of Northern Italy through the analysis of positive nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs. The study was conducted on subjects who lived in the province of Alessandria with at least one positive NP swab between 2 March and 22 December 2020. To investigate if clustering occurred, the proportion of SARS-CoV-2 positive subjects over the total number of residents in each small administrative subregion was calculated and then mapped. A total of 17,260 subjects with at least one positive NP swab were included; the median age was 54 years (Interquartile range 38–72) and 54.9% (<i>n</i> = 9478) of our study population were female. Among the 192 towns scanned, 26 showed a prevalence between 5% and 7.5%, one between 7.5% and 10% and two with more than 10% positive swabs. The territories with a higher prevalence of positive subjects were located in areas with at least one nursing home and potential clusters were observed within these structures. The maps produced may be considered a useful and important monitoring system to identify areas with a significant and relevant diffusion of SARS-CoV-2.https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/11/1/3SARS-CoV-2spatial analysisnursing homeprevalenceanalytical and synthetic maps |
| spellingShingle | Chiara Airoldi Marinella Bertolotti Maria Rowinski Marta Betti Alessandro Pecere Andrea Sarro Genny Franceschetti Guglielmo Pacileo Antonio Maconi Daniela Ferrante Georeferencing of COVID-19 Positive Nasopharyngeal Swabs to Support Emergency Management in an Area of Northern Italy ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information SARS-CoV-2 spatial analysis nursing home prevalence analytical and synthetic maps |
| title | Georeferencing of COVID-19 Positive Nasopharyngeal Swabs to Support Emergency Management in an Area of Northern Italy |
| title_full | Georeferencing of COVID-19 Positive Nasopharyngeal Swabs to Support Emergency Management in an Area of Northern Italy |
| title_fullStr | Georeferencing of COVID-19 Positive Nasopharyngeal Swabs to Support Emergency Management in an Area of Northern Italy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Georeferencing of COVID-19 Positive Nasopharyngeal Swabs to Support Emergency Management in an Area of Northern Italy |
| title_short | Georeferencing of COVID-19 Positive Nasopharyngeal Swabs to Support Emergency Management in an Area of Northern Italy |
| title_sort | georeferencing of covid 19 positive nasopharyngeal swabs to support emergency management in an area of northern italy |
| topic | SARS-CoV-2 spatial analysis nursing home prevalence analytical and synthetic maps |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/11/1/3 |
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