Seroprevalence of COVID-19 in Riyadh city during the early increase of COVID-19 infections in Saudi Arabia,June 2020 |
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Authors: | Mohammed W. Alenazi Abdullah Algaisi Hosam M. Zowawi Omar Aldibasi Anwar M. Hashem Naif Khalaf Alharbi |
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Affiliation: | 1. King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;2. King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;3. Department of Medical Laboratories Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Medical Research Center, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia;4. Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia;5. Vaccines and Immunotherapy Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
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Abstract: | Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in December 2019 and caused a global pandemic of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). More than 170 million cases have been reported worldwide with mortality rate of 1–3%. The detection of SARS-CoV-2 by molecular testing is limited to acute infections, therefore serological studies provide a better estimation of the virus spread in a population. This study aims to evaluate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the major city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during the sharp increase of the pandemic, in June 2020. Serum samples from non-COVID patients (n = 432), patients visiting hospitals for other complications and confirmed negative for COVID-19, and healthy blood donors (n = 350) were collected and evaluated using an in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The overall percentage of positive samples was 7.80% in the combined two populations (n = 782). The seroprevalence was lower in the blood donors (6%) than non-COVID-19 patients (9.25%), p = 0.0004. This seroprevalence rate is higher than the documented cases, indicating asymptomatic or mild unreported COVID-19 infections in these two populations. This warrants further national sero-surveys and highlights the importance of real-time serological surveillance during pandemics. |
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Keywords: | Seroprevalence COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 ELISA Blood donors |
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