Low SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in blood donors in the early COVID-19 epidemic in the Netherlands.
cross_sectional · Level IV
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33184284.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-19481-7 and PMC identifier 7665189.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The world is combating an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with health-care systems, society and economies impacted in an unprecedented way. It is unclear how many people have contracted the causative coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) unknowingly and are asymptomatic. Therefore, reported COVID-19 cases do not reflect the true scale of outbreak. Here we present the prevalence and distribution of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in a healthy adult population of the Netherlands, which is a highly affected country, using a high-performance immunoassay. Our results indicate that one month into the outbreak (i) the seroprevalence in the Netherlands was 2.7% with substantial regional variation, (ii) the hardest-hit areas showed a seroprevalence of up to 9.5%, (iii) the seroprevalence was sex-independent throughout age groups (18-72 years), and (iv) antibodies were significantly more often present in younger people (18-30 years). Our study provides vital information on the extent of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in a country where social distancing is in place.
Medical subject headings
- Antibodies, Viral
- Blood Donors
- Coronavirus Infections
- Pneumonia, Viral