Higher SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in workers with lower socioeconomic status in Cape Town, South Africa

Autor: Vinzeigh N. Leukes, Novel N. Chegou, Nosipho Mtala, Wolfgang Preiser, Stephanus T. Malherbe, Marika Flinn, Conita Claassen, Donald Simon, Gerhard Walzl, Candice E. MacDonald, Tracy Cummins, Jane A. Shaw, Gerard Tromp, Andre G. Loxton, Kim Stanley, Andriëtte Hiemstra, Léanie Kleynhans, Helmuth Reuter, Maynard Meiring, Nelita du Plessis
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
RNA viruses
Male
Viral Diseases
Coronaviruses
Social Sciences
Artificial Gene Amplification and Extension
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Geographical locations
South Africa
Medical Conditions
Immunodeficiency Viruses
Seroepidemiologic Studies
Cape
Pandemic
Epidemiology
Medicine and Health Sciences
Public and Occupational Health
Pathology and laboratory medicine
Virus Testing
Multidisciplinary
Geography
Medical microbiology
Socioeconomic Aspects of Health
Infectious Diseases
Viruses
Medicine
Female
SARS CoV 2
Pathogens
medicine.symptom
Research Article
Adult
medicine.medical_specialty
SARS coronavirus
Science
Research and Analysis Methods
Human Geography
Social class
Microbiology
Asymptomatic
Diagnostic Medicine
Retroviruses
medicine
Humans
Seroprevalence
Medical history
Molecular Biology Techniques
Molecular Biology
Socioeconomic status
Biology and life sciences
SARS-CoV-2
business.industry
Lentivirus
Organisms
Viral pathogens
HIV
COVID-19
Covid 19
Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction
Microbial pathogens
Health Care
Social Class
Africa
Earth Sciences
Housing
People and places
business
Demography
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 2, p e0247852 (2021)
PLoS ONE
ISSN: 1932-6203
Popis: Background Inequality is rife throughout South Africa. The first wave of COVID-19 may have affected people in lower socioeconomic groups worse than the affluent. The SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and the specificity of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests in South Africa is not known. Methods We tested 405 volunteers representing all socioeconomic strata from the workforce of a popular shopping and tourist complex in central Cape Town with the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay. We assessed the association between antibody positivity and COVID-19 symptom status, medical history, and sociodemographic variables. We tested 137 serum samples from healthy controls collected in Cape Town prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, to confirm the specificity of the assay in the local population. Results Of the 405 volunteers tested one month after the first peak of the epidemic in Cape Town, 96(23.7%) were SARS-CoV-2 IgG positive. Of those who tested positive, 46(47.9%) reported no symptoms of COVID-19 in the previous 6 months. Seropositivity was significantly associated with living in informal housing, residing in a subdistrict with low income-per household, and having a low-earning occupation. The specificity of the assay was 98.54%(95%CI 94.82%-99.82%) in the pre-COVID controls. Conclusions There is a high background seroprevalence in Cape Town, particularly in people of lower socioeconomic status. Almost half of cases are asymptomatic, and therefore undiagnosed by local testing strategies. These results cannot be explained by low assay specificity.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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