TY - JOUR
T1 - Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in Sydney after the first epidemic wave of 2020
AU - Gidding, Heather F.
AU - Machalek, Dorothy A.
AU - Hendry, Alexandra J.
AU - Quinn, Helen E.
AU - Vette, Kaitlyn
AU - Beard, Frank H.
AU - Shilling, Hannah S.
AU - Hirani, Rena
AU - Gosbell, Iain B.
AU - Irving, David O.
AU - Hueston, Linda
AU - Downes, Marnie
AU - Carlin, John B.
AU - O'Sullivan, Matthew V. N.
AU - Dwyer, Dominic E.
AU - Kaldor, John M.
AU - Macartney, Kristine
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - 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 outcome measure: 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.
AB - 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 outcome measure: 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.
UR - https://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:60713
U2 - 10.5694/mja2.50940
DO - 10.5694/mja2.50940
M3 - Article
SN - 0025-729X
VL - 214
SP - 179
EP - 185
JO - Medical Journal of Australia
JF - Medical Journal of Australia
IS - 4
ER -