High SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Karaganda, Kazakhstan before the launch of COVID-19 vaccination
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Abstract
COVID-19 exposure in Central Asia appears underestimated and SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence data are urgently needed to inform ongoing vaccination efforts and other strategies to mitigate the regional pandemic. Here, in a pilot serologic study we assessed the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody-mediated immunity in a multi-ethnic cohort of public university employees in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Asymptomatic subjects (n = 100) were recruited prior to their first COVID-19 vaccination. Questionnaires were administered to capture a range of demographic and clinical characteristics. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected for SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR testing. Serological assays were performed to detect spike (S)-reactive IgG and IgA and to assess virus neutralization. Pre-pandemic samples were used to validate the assay positivity thresholds. S-IgG and -IgA seropositivity rates among SARS-CoV-2 PCR-negative participants (n = 100) were 42% (95% CI [32.2–52.3]) and 59% (95% CI [48.8–69.0]), respectively, and 64% (95% CI [53.4–73.1]) of the cohort tested positive for at least one of the antibodies. S-IgG titres correlated with virus neutralization activity, detectable in 49% of the tested subset with prior COVID-19 history. Serologically confirmed history of COVID-19 was associated with Kazakh ethnicity, but not with other ethnic minorities present in the cohort, and self-reported history of respiratory illness since March 2020. Overall, SARS-CoV-2 exposure in this cohort was ~15-fold higher compared to the reported all-time national and regional COVID-19 prevalence, consistent with recent studies of excess infection and death in Kazakhstan. Continuous serological surveillance provides important insights into COVID-19 transmission dynamics and may be used to better inform the regional public health response.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2021.09.03.21262885: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics Field Sample Permit: Sample collection and processing: Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected following the national guidelines into DNA/RNA shield media (Zymo Research, Irvine, US). Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
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 has limitations. First, given the small sample constrained to employees of one, …
SciScore for 10.1101/2021.09.03.21262885: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics Field Sample Permit: Sample collection and processing: Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected following the national guidelines into DNA/RNA shield media (Zymo Research, Irvine, US). Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
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 has limitations. First, given the small sample constrained to employees of one, albeit large (employing ∼3000 staff) organization, our findings should be seen as preliminary “pilot” data on SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in Kazakhstan. Next, our analysis did not include a thorough IgG/IgA testing of control (pre-pandemic and acute infection) samples, and it is possible, although highly unlikely, that the assay performance is affected by factors such as cross-reactivity with infections endemic to Kazakhstan. Future studies will need to assess the performance of these and other serologic assays across various demographic groups in the country.
Results from TrialIdentifier: We found the following clinical trial numbers in your paper:
Identifier Status Title NCT04871841 Active, not recruiting Study of Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccination in Adults in Kazakhs… 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.
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