Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies seroprevalence among patients submitted to treatment for tuberculosis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: a cross-sectional study

  1. Karen Machado Gomes
  2. Suzanne Pereira Leite
  3. Maria Helena Vieira Moutinho
  4. Thatiana Alfena de Souza
  5. Rita de Cássia Batista
  6. Luiz Claudio Motta de Oliveira
  7. Paulo Redner
  8. Jesus Pais Ramos
  9. Fatima Maria Gomes da Rocha
  10. Gisele Pinto de Oliveira
  11. Antônio Teva
  12. Fernando do Couto Motta
  13. Marilda Agudo Mendonça Teixeira de Siqueira
  14. Rafael Silva Duarte
  15. Francisco Inácio Pinkusfeld Monteir Bastos
  16. Paulo Victor de Sousa Viana

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Abstract

Due to tuberculosis (TB) patients’ pulmonary damages, some authors believe that a SARS-CoV-2 coinfection may result in unfavorable outcomes. A cross-sectional anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies seroprevalence study was conducted at a TB treatment tertiary referral unit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to estimate the proportion (in %) of TB patients exposed to the new coronavirus and their main outcomes. Of 83 patients undergoing TB treatment, 26.5% have already been infected by the new coronavirus. Most patients were asymptomatic (69%) or had mild COVID-19 cases (31%). Only one patient required hospitalization. Among the symptoms and signs presented, the most frequently reported were: fever, headache, and myalgia. People with less education and less purchasing power seemed to had been more exposed to SARS-CoV-2.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.11.17.21266274: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsIRB: 2.7 Ethical considerations: This study was reviewed and approved by the research ethics committee of the Sergio Arouca National School of Public Health / Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (CAAE: 32219620.9.0000.5240).
    Consent: Written informed consent was obtained from all study participants.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    It is an immunochromatographic test on a differentiated double-path platform for the qualitative detection of IgM and IgG antibodies anti-SARS-CoV-2 virus.
    IgG
    suggested: None
    anti-SARS-CoV-2 virus.
    suggested: None
    Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies prevalence and 95% CIs were calculated as the number of positive test results divided by the total number of participants.
    Anti-SARS-CoV-2
    suggested: None

    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:
    This study has some limitations. First, the possible selection bias, since the sample in this study included those who naturally tend to be more mobile and less likely to keep social distancing, first of all to attend their appointments at health facilities, but also to address their bare necessities since most of them are poor and live in impoverished and underserved communities. Second, the small sample size, notwithstanding corresponding to the caseload of a tertiary, referral, health service, are likely affected by type II errors. Furthermore, questionnaires, especially when applied to studies dealing with long-term patients, living with severe diseases, tend to be affected by both recall [39] and social desirability bias [40].

    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.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    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. Version published to 10.1101/2021.11.17.21266274v1 on medRxiv