Confirmed circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in Irish blood donors prior to first national notification of infection.
J Clin Virol
; 146: 105045, 2022 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1531548
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Blood donor studies offer a unique opportunity to screen healthy populations for the presence of antibodies to emerging infections. We describe the use of blood donor specimens to track the 'first-wave' of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland.METHODOLOGY:
A random selection of donor samples received by the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) between February and September 2020 (n = 8,509) were screened by multiple commercial SARs-CoV-2 antibody assays. The antibody detection rate was adjusted to the population to determine the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Ireland.RESULTS:
SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection rose significantly during the first peak of COVID-19 infection, increasing from 0.3% in March, to 2.9% in April (p < 0.0001, The first SARS-CoV-2 antibody positive donor samples were collected on the 17th February 2020, 2 weeks prior to the first official notification. This is the earliest serological evidence of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in the Irish population. Our results also show a significantly higher antibody prevalence in the Capital city and in donors less than 40 years of age.CONCLUSIONS:
The present study demonstrates evidence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody reactivity across all age groups and counties. The critical value of blood donor seroprevalence studies is apparent in this report which identified the earliest serological evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Ireland, as well as documenting the evolution of COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland over time.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Clin Virol
Journal subject:
Virology
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.jcv.2021.105045
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS