Seroprevalence of anti–SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in Kenyan blood donors

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Abstract

By the end of July 2020, Kenya had reported only 341 deaths and ∼20,000 cases of COVID-19. This is in marked contrast to the tens of thousands of deaths reported in many higher-income countries. The true extent of COVID-19 in the community was unknown and likely to be higher than reports indicated. Uyoga et al. found an overall seroprevalence among blood donors of 4.3%, peaking in 35- to 44-year-old individuals (see the Perspective by Maeda and Nkengasong). The low mortality can be partly explained by the steep demographics in Kenya, where less than 4% of the population is 65 or older. These circumstances combine to result in Kenyan hospitals not currently being overwhelmed by patients with respiratory distress. However, the imposition of a strict lockdown in this country has shifted the disease burden to maternal and child deaths as a result of disruption to essential medical services.

Science , this issue p. 79 ; see also p. 27

Article activity feed

  1. SciScore for 10.1101/2020.07.27.20162693: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementConsent: Before the blood draw, donors gave individual consent the use of their samples for research.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    After a further three washes 100µl horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugated goat anti-human IgG antibody (KPL-SeraCare) diluted 1:10,000 in wash buffer was added to the plates, incubated for 1h at room temperature, washed 3 times and o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride (OPD) substrate (Sigma) added for colour development for 10 min.
    anti-human IgG
    suggested: None
    The CR3022 monoclonal antibody (mAb) was used as positive control, while a pool of sera from 50 adults sampled pre-COVID-19 pandemic was used as negative control (see article supplement).
    CR3022
    suggested: (Imported from the IEDB Cat# CR3022, RRID:AB_2848080)

    Results from OddPub: Thank you for sharing your code and data.


    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    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 10.1101/2020.07.27.20162693: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementBefore the blood draw, donors gave individual consent the use of their samples for research.Randomizationnot detected.Blindingnot detected.Power Analysisnot detected.Sex as a biological variableCompared to the population structure from the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, our participants were predominantly male (82.0% vs 49.3%), had more persons aged 25-34 years (40.1% vs 27.3%) and more residents of coastal Counties (49.2% versus 9.1%, Table 2).

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    We estimated the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence among blood donors in Kenya.
    anti-SARS-CoV-2
    suggested: None
    After a further three washes 100µl horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugated goat anti-human IgG antibody (KPL-SeraCare) diluted 1:10,000 in wash buffer was added to the plates, incubated for 1h at room temperature, washed 3 times and o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride (OPD) substrate (Sigma) added for colour development for 10 min.
    anti-human IgG
    suggested: None
    The CR3022 monoclonal antibody (mAb) was used as positive control, while a pool of sera from 50 adults sampled pre-COVID-19 pandemic was used as negative control (see article supplement).
    CR3022
    suggested: (Imported from the IEDB Cat# CR3022, RRID:AB_2848080)

    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: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.


    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.

  3. SciScore for 10.1101/2020.07.27.20162693: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementBefore the blood draw, donors gave individual consent the use of their samples for research.Randomizationnot detected.Blindingnot detected.Power Analysisnot detected.Sex as a biological variableCompared to the population structure from the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, our participants were predominantly male (82.0% vs 49.3%), had more persons aged 25-34 years (40.1% vs 27.3%) and more residents of coastal Counties (49.2% versus 9.1%, Table 2).

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    We estimated the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence among blood donors in Kenya.
    anti-SARS-CoV-2
    suggested: None
    After a further three washes 100µl horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugated goat anti-human IgG antibody (KPL-SeraCare) diluted 1:10,000 in wash buffer was added to the plates, incubated for 1h at room temperature, washed 3 times and o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride (OPD) substrate (Sigma) added for colour development for 10 min.
    anti-human IgG
    suggested: None
    The CR3022 monoclonal antibody (mAb) was used as positive control, while a pool of sera from 50 adults sampled pre-COVID-19 pandemic was used as negative control (see article supplement).
    CR3022
    suggested: (Imported from the IEDB Cat# CR3022, RRID:AB_2848080)

    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: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.


    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 is not a substitute for expert review. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers) in the manuscript, and detects sentences that appear to be missing RRIDs. SciScore also checks to make sure that rigor criteria are addressed by authors. It does this by detecting sentences that discuss criteria such as blinding or power analysis. SciScore does not guarantee that the rigor criteria that it detects are appropriate for the particular study. Instead it assists authors, editors, and reviewers by drawing attention to sections of the manuscript that contain or should contain various rigor criteria and key resources. For details on the results shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  4. SciScore for 10.1101/2020.07.27.20162693: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementBefore the blood draw, donors gave individual consent the use of their samples for research.Randomizationnot detected.Blindingnot detected.Power Analysisnot detected.Sex as a biological variableBy comparison with the Kenyan population, the sample over- represented males (82% versus 49%), adults aged 25-34 years (40% versus 27%) and residents of coastal Counties (49% versus 9%).

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    12 IgG and IgM antibodies rise almost simultaneously within the first 1-3 weeks after symptom onset and 90% of cases are seropositive by 14 days.
    IgM
    suggested: None
    After a further three washes 100µl horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugated goat anti-human IgG antibody (KPL-SeraCare) diluted 1:10,000 in wash buffer was added to the plates, incubated for 1h at room temperature, washed 3 times and o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride (OPD) substrate (Sigma) added for colour development for 10 min.
    anti-human IgG
    suggested: None
    The CR3022 monoclonal antibody (mAb) was used as positive control, while a pool of sera from 50 adults sampled pre-COVID-19 pandemic was used as negative control (see article supplement).
    CR3022
    suggested: (Imported from the IEDB Cat# CR3022, AB_2848080)
    Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody prevalence in study population Overall, 174 of 3098 samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 anti-Spike IgG giving a crude seroprevalence of 5.6% (95% CI 4.8–6.5%)
    Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG
    suggested: None
          <div style="margin-bottom:8px">
            <div><b>anti-Spike IgG</b></div>
            <div>suggested: None</div>
          </div>
        </td></tr><tr><td style="min-width:100px;vertical-align:top;border-bottom:1px solid lightgray">Anti-SARS-Cov-2 antibody surveys can be used to monitor the spread of the pandemic across the population and to inform mathematical models that predict the course of the epidemic.</td><td style="min-width:100px;border-bottom:1px solid lightgray">
          <div style="margin-bottom:8px">
            <div><b>Anti-SARS-Cov-2</b></div>
            <div>suggested: None</div>
          </div>
        </td></tr><tr><td style="min-width:100px;vertical-align:top;border-bottom:1px solid lightgray">Other reports suggest that anti-spike antibody responses may be insensitive as a correlate of exposure to the virus or as a correlate of immunity to the diseases.</td><td style="min-width:100px;border-bottom:1px solid lightgray">
          <div style="margin-bottom:8px">
            <div><b>anti-spike</b></div>
            <div>suggested: None</div>
          </div>
        </td></tr></table>
    

    Data from additional tools added to each annotation on a weekly basis.

    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 is not a substitute for expert review. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers) in the manuscript, and detects sentences that appear to be missing RRIDs. SciScore also checks to make sure that rigor criteria are addressed by authors. It does this by detecting sentences that discuss criteria such as blinding or power analysis. SciScore does not guarantee that the rigor criteria that it detects are appropriate for the particular study. Instead it assists authors, editors, and reviewers by drawing attention to sections of the manuscript that contain or should contain various rigor criteria and key resources. For details on the results shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.