Seroprevalence of Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in Guangdong Province, China between March to June 2020

Cheng Xiao; Nancy Hiu Lan Leung; Yating Cheng; Hui Lei; Shiman Ling; Xia Lin; Ran Tao; Xianzhong Huang; Wenda Guan; Zifeng Yang; Benjamin John Cowling; Mark Zanin; Sook-San Wong

doi:10.3390/pathogens10111505

Pathogens (Nov 2021)

Seroprevalence of Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in Guangdong Province, China between March to June 2020

Cheng Xiao,
Nancy Hiu Lan Leung,
Yating Cheng,
Hui Lei,
Shiman Ling,
Xia Lin,
Ran Tao,
Xianzhong Huang,
Wenda Guan,
Zifeng Yang,
Benjamin John Cowling,
Mark Zanin,
Sook-San Wong

Affiliations

Cheng Xiao: State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510182, China
Nancy Hiu Lan Leung: WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Yating Cheng: Laboratory Diagnosis Department, Guangzhou Kingmed Center for Clinical Laboratory, International Biotech Island, Guangzhou 510182, China
Hui Lei: State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510182, China
Shiman Ling: State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510182, China
Xia Lin: State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510182, China
Ran Tao: Laboratory Diagnosis Department, Guangzhou Kingmed Center for Clinical Laboratory, International Biotech Island, Guangzhou 510182, China
Xianzhong Huang: Laboratory Diagnosis Department, Guangzhou Kingmed Center for Clinical Laboratory, International Biotech Island, Guangzhou 510182, China
Wenda Guan: State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510182, China
Zifeng Yang: State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510182, China
Benjamin John Cowling: WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Mark Zanin: State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510182, China
Sook-San Wong: State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510182, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10111505
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10, no. 11
p. 1505

Abstract

Read online

Guangdong province, located in South China, is an important economic hub with a large domestic migrant population and was among the earliest areas to report COVID-19 cases outside of Wuhan. We conducted a cross-sectional, age-stratified serosurvey to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 after the emergence of COVID-19 in Guangdong. We tested 14,629 residual serum samples that were submitted for clinical testing from 21 prefectures between March and June 2020 for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using a magnetic particle based chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay and validated the results using a pseudovirus neutralization assay. We found 21 samples positive for SARS-CoV-2 IgG, resulting in an estimated age- and sex-weighted seroprevalence of 0.15% (95% CI: 0.06–0.24%). The overall age-specific seroprevalence was 0.07% (95% CI: 0.01–0.24%) in persons up to 9 years old, 0.22% (95% CI: 0.03–0.79%) in persons aged 10–19, 0.16% (95% CI: 0.07–0.33%) in persons aged 20–39, 0.13% (95% CI: 0.03–0.33%) in persons aged 40–59 and 0.18% (95% CI: 0.07–0.40%) in persons ≥60 years old. Fourteen (67%) samples had pseudovirus neutralization titers to S-protein, suggesting most of the IgG-positive samples were true-positives. Seroprevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 was low, indicating that there were no hidden epidemics during this period. Vaccination is urgently needed to increase population immunity to SARS-CoV-2.

Published in Pathogens

ISSN: 2076-0817 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Medicine
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/pathogens

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords