Low awareness of past SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthy plasma donors

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Abstract

No abstract available

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  1. SciScore for 10.1101/2020.08.10.20171561: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementConsent: All participating individuals gave informed consent before participating in the online questionnaire and the study protocol and procedures were approved by Sanquin’s Ethics Advisory Council and its Privacy Officer.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    Individuals that donated plasma anywhere in the Netherlands between May 11th and 18th 2020 who consented (99.7%) to using leftovers of their donation for research were tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.
    SARS-CoV-2
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS, Version 23 (IBM, Armonk, U.S.A.).
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).


    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Our study also has limitations. First, study participants were required to be in good health in order to qualify for plasma donation. This selection bias may have resulted in an underrepresentation of SARS-CoV-2 antibody positive individuals and of more severe COVID-19 cases in particular. Second, we asked participating individuals to report their symptoms over a period of almost three months, which obviously introduces a risk of recall bias. Nonetheless, given the unprecedented impact of SARS-CoV-2 on society and the repeated governmental calls to self-isolate with symptoms, we expect that most individuals have an exceptional recollection of their COVID-19 suspicion and symptoms during this period. As governments slowly ease virus control measures, it becomes vital to identify and isolate infected individuals to prevent new SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks.19,20 The presence of anosmia/dysgeusia, especially, should trigger PCR testing.17 In addition, our study confirms the existence of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections and adds that even symptomatic individuals did not suspect a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Despite the limitations of studies thus far, sufficient evidence of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 exists.16,21 Efforts to identify cases that rely on symptoms may therefore be insufficient, which emphasizes the importance of thorough contact tracing.22 In conclusion, almost half of the individuals that tested positive for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in a reliable...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.


    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.


    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.


    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. SciScore for 10.1101/2020.08.10.20171561: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementAll participating individuals gave informed consent before participating in the online questionnaire and the study protocol and procedures were approved by Sanquin’s Ethics Advisory Council and its Privacy Officer.Randomizationnot detected.Blindingnot detected.Power Analysisnot detected.Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    Only one individual positive for SARSCoV-2 antibodies was admitted to a hospital, but this was because of gastrointestinal complaints.
    SARSCoV-2
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS, Version 23 (IBM, Armonk, U.S.A.).
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).


    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:

    Our study also has limitations. First, study participants were required to be in good health in order to qualify for plasma donation. This selection bias may have resulted in an underrepresentation of SARS-CoV-2 antibody positive individuals and of more severe COVID-19 cases in particular. Second, we asked participating individuals to report their symptoms over a period of almost three months, which obviously introduces a risk of recall bias. Nonetheless, given the unprecedented impact of SARS-CoV-2 on society and the repeated governmental calls to self-isolate with symptoms, we expect that most individuals have an exceptional recollection of their COVID-19 suspicion and symptoms during this period. As governments slowly ease virus control measures, it becomes vital to identify and isolate infected individuals to prevent new SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks.19,20 The presence of anosmia/dysgeusia, especially, should trigger PCR testing.17 In addition, our study confirms the existence of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections and adds that even symptomatic individuals did not suspect a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Despite the limitations of studies thus far, sufficient evidence of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 exists.16,21 Efforts to identify cases that rely on symptoms may therefore be insufficient, which emphasizes the importance of thorough contact tracing.22 In conclusion, almost half of the individuals that tested positive for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in a reliable assay did not suspect having had an infection. This proportion may be lowered with better awareness and recognition of COVID-19 symptoms, in particular the loss of smell and taste. However, 38% of those infected reported no or only very mild symptoms. Tracing of asymptomatic contacts is therefore crucial to halting transmission.


    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.


    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.


    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.