Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in women attending antenatal care in eastern Ethiopia: a facility-based surveillance.
BMJ Open
; 11(11): e055834, 2021 11 24.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1533051
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
We conducted serosurveillance of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among pregnant women attending their first antenatal care.SETTING:
The surveillance was set in one referral hospital in Harar, one district hospital and one health centre located in Haramaya district in rural eastern Ethiopia.PARTICIPANTS:
We collected questionnaire data and a blood sample from 3312 pregnant women between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. We selected 1447 blood samples at random and assayed these for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at Hararghe Health Research laboratory using WANTAI SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Test for total immunoglobulin.OUTCOME:
We assayed for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and temporal trends in seroprevalence were analysed with a χ2 test for trend and multivariable binomial regression.RESULTS:
Among 1447 sera tested, 83 were positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies giving a crude seroprevalence of 5.7% (95% CI 4.6% to 7.0%). Of 160 samples tested in April-May 2020, none was seropositive; the first seropositive sample was identified in June and seroprevalence rose steadily thereafter (χ2 test for trend, p=0.003) reaching a peak of 11.8% in February 2021. In the multivariable model, seroprevalence was approximately 3% higher in first-trimester mothers compared with later presentations, and rose by 0.75% (95% CI 0.31% to 1.20%) per month of calendar time.CONCLUSIONS:
This clinical convenience sample illustrates the dynamic of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in pregnant women in eastern Ethiopia; infection was rare before June 2020 but it spread in a linear fashion thereafter, rather than following intermittent waves, and reached 10% by the beginning of 2021. After 1 year of surveillance, most pregnant mothers remained susceptible.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Prenatal Care
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Pregnancy
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bmjopen-2021-055834
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS