Seroprevalence of COVID-19 in Riyadh city during the early increase of COVID-19 infections in Saudi Arabia, June 2020.
Saudi J Biol Sci
; 29(6): 103282, 2022 Jun.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1799721
ABSTRACT
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in December 2019 and caused a global pandemic of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). More than 170 million cases have been reported worldwide with mortality rate of 1-3%. The detection of SARS-CoV-2 by molecular testing is limited to acute infections, therefore serological studies provide a better estimation of the virus spread in a population. This study aims to evaluate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the major city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during the sharp increase of the pandemic, in June 2020. Serum samples from non-COVID patients (n = 432), patients visiting hospitals for other complications and confirmed negative for COVID-19, and healthy blood donors (n = 350) were collected and evaluated using an in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The overall percentage of positive samples was 7.80% in the combined two populations (n = 782). The seroprevalence was lower in the blood donors (6%) than non-COVID-19 patients (9.25%), p = 0.0004. This seroprevalence rate is higher than the documented cases, indicating asymptomatic or mild unreported COVID-19 infections in these two populations. This warrants further national sero-surveys and highlights the importance of real-time serological surveillance during pandemics.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
Language:
English
Journal:
Saudi J Biol Sci
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.sjbs.2022.103282
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