PLoS ONE (Jan 2021)

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in an area of unrestricted viral circulation: Mass seroepidemiological screening in Castiglione d'Adda, Italy.

  • Gabriele Pagani,
  • Andrea Giacomelli,
  • Federico Conti,
  • Dario Bernacchia,
  • Rossana Rondanin,
  • Andrea Prina,
  • Vittore Scolari,
  • Arianna Rizzo,
  • Martina Beltrami,
  • Camilla Caimi,
  • Cecilia Eugenia Gandolfi,
  • Silvana Castaldi,
  • Bruno Alessandro Rivieccio,
  • Giacomo Buonanno,
  • Giuseppe Marano,
  • Cosimo Ottomano,
  • Patrizia Boracchi,
  • Elia Biganzoli,
  • Massimo Galli

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246513
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 2
p. e0246513

Abstract

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Castiglione D'Adda is one of the municipalities more precociously and severely affected by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic in Lombardy. With our study we aimed to understand the diffusion of the infection by mass serological screening. We searched for SARS-CoV-2 IgGs in the entire population on a voluntary basis using lateral flow immunochromatographic tests (RICT) on capillary blood (rapid tests). We then performed chemioluminescent serological assays (CLIA) and naso-pharyngeal swabs (NPS) in a randomized representative sample and in each subject with a positive rapid test. Factors associated with RICT IgG positivity were assessed by uni- and multivariate logistic regression models. Out of the 4143 participants, 918 (22·2%) showed RICT IgG positivity. In multivariable analysis, IgG positivity increases with age, with a significant non-linear effect (p = 0·0404). We found 22 positive NPSs out of the 1330 performed. Albeit relevant, the IgG prevalence is lower than expected and suggests that a large part of the population remains susceptible to the infection. The observed differences in prevalence might reflect a different infection susceptibility by age group. A limited persistence of active infections could be found after several weeks after the epidemic peak in the area.