Comparative performance data for multiplex SARS-CoV-2 serological assays from a large panel of dried blood spot specimens
François Cholette,
Rissa Fabia,
Angela Harris,
Hannah Ellis,
Karla Cachero,
Lukas Schroeder,
Christine Mesa,
Philip Lacap,
Corey Arnold,
Yannick Galipeau,
Marc-André Langlois,
Karen Colwill,
Anne-Claude Gingras,
Allison McGeer,
Elizabeth Giles,
Jacqueline Day,
Carla Osiowy,
Yves Durocher,
Catherine Hankins,
Bruce Mazer,
Michael Drebot,
John Kim
Affiliations
François Cholette
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada; Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Rissa Fabia
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada
Angela Harris
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada
Hannah Ellis
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada
Karla Cachero
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada
Lukas Schroeder
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada
Christine Mesa
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada
Philip Lacap
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada
Corey Arnold
Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Canada
Yannick Galipeau
Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Canada
Marc-André Langlois
Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Canada; The Centre for Infection, Immunity, and Inflammation (CI3), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
Karen Colwill
Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health, Toronto, Canada
Anne-Claude Gingras
Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health, Toronto, Canada; Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Allison McGeer
Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health, Toronto, Canada; Department of Microbiology at Mount Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health, Toronto, Canada; Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Canada
Elizabeth Giles
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada
Jacqueline Day
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada
Carla Osiowy
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada
Yves Durocher
Mammalian Cell Expression, Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montréal, Canada
Catherine Hankins
Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montréal, Canada
Bruce Mazer
Department of Pediatrics, McGill University, Montréal, Canada
Michael Drebot
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada
John Kim
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada; Corresponding author.
The extent of the COVID-19 pandemic will be better understood through serosurveys and SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing. Dried blood spot (DBS) samples will play a central role in large scale serosurveillance by simplifying biological specimen collection and transportation, especially in Canada. Direct comparative performance data on multiplex SARS-CoV-2 assays resulting from identical DBS samples are currently lacking. In our study, we aimed to provide performance data for the BioPlex 2200 SARS-CoV-2 IgG (Bio-Rad), V-PLEX SARS-CoV-2 Panel 2 IgG (MSD), and Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 (Roche) commercial assays, as well as for two highly scalable in-house assays (University of Ottawa and Mount Sinai Hospital protocols) to assess their suitability for DBS-based SARS-CoV-2 DBS serosurveillance. These assays were evaluated against identical panels of DBS samples collected from convalescent COVID-19 patients (n = 97) and individuals undergoing routine sexually transmitted and bloodborne infection (STBBI) testing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 90). Our findings suggest that several assays are suitable for serosurveillance (sensitivity >97% and specificity >98%). In contrast to other reports, we did not observe an improvement in performance using multiple antigen consensus-based rules to establish overall seropositivity. This may be due to our DBS panel which consisted of samples collected from convalescent COVID-19 patients with significant anti-spike, -receptor binding domain (RBD), and -nucleocapsid antibody titers. This study demonstrates that biological specimens collected as DBS coupled with one of several readily available assays are useful for large-scale COVID-19 serosurveillance.
