Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in Sydney after the first epidemic wave of 2020.
Med J Aust
; 214(4): 179-185, 2021 03.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1067930
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To estimate SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody seroprevalence after the first epidemic wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Sydney. SETTING,PARTICIPANTS:
People of any age who had provided blood for testing at selected diagnostic pathology services (general pathology); pregnant women aged 20-39 years who had received routine antenatal screening; and Australian Red Cross Lifeblood plasmapheresis donors aged 20-69 years.DESIGN:
Cross-sectional study; testing of de-identified residual blood specimens collected during 20 April - 2 June 2020. MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURE:
Estimated proportions of people seropositive for anti-SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG, adjusted for test sensitivity and specificity.RESULTS:
Thirty-eight of 5339 specimens were IgG-positive (general pathology, 19 of 3231; antenatal screening, 7 of 560; plasmapheresis donors, 12 of 1548); there were no clear patterns by age group, sex, or location of residence. Adjusted estimated seroprevalence among people who had had general pathology blood tests (all ages) was 0.15% (95% credible interval [CrI], 0.04-0.41%), and 0.29% (95% CrI, 0.04-0.75%) for plasmapheresis donors (20-69 years). Among 20-39-year-old people, the age group common to all three collection groups, adjusted estimated seroprevalence was 0.24% (95% CrI, 0.04-0.80%) for the general pathology group, 0.79% (95% CrI, 0.04-1.88%) for the antenatal screening group, and 0.69% (95% CrI, 0.04-1.59%) for plasmapheresis donors.CONCLUSIONS:
Estimated SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was below 1%, indicating that community transmission was low during the first COVID-19 epidemic wave in Sydney. These findings suggest that early control of the spread of COVID-19 was successful, but efforts to reduce further transmission remain important.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pandemics
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
/
Antibodies, Viral
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Oceania
Language:
English
Journal:
Med J Aust
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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