Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Niger State: Pilot Cross-Sectional Study

  1. Hussaini Majiya
  2. Mohammed Aliyu-Paiko
  3. Vincent Tochukwu Balogu
  4. Dickson Achimugu Musa
  5. Ibrahim Maikudi Salihu
  6. Abdullahi Abubakar Kawu
  7. Ishaku Yakubu Bashir
  8. Aishat Rabiu Sani
  9. John Baba
  10. Amina Tako Muhammad
  11. Fatimah Ladidi Jibril
  12. Ezekiel Bala
  13. Nuhu George Obaje
  14. Yahaya Badeggi Aliyu
  15. Ramatu Gogo Muhammad
  16. Hadiza Mohammed
  17. Usman Naji Gimba
  18. Abduljelili Uthman
  19. Hadiza Muhammad Liman
  20. Sule Alfa Alhaji
  21. Joseph Kolo James
  22. Muhammad Muhammad Makusidi
  23. Mohammed Danasabe Isah
  24. Ibrahim Abdullahi
  25. Umar Ndagi
  26. Bala Waziri
  27. Chindo Ibrahim Bisallah
  28. Naomi John Dadi-Mamud
  29. Kolo Ibrahim
  30. Abu Kasim Adamu

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Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is causing ongoing human and socioeconomic losses.

Objective

To know how far the virus has spread in Niger State, Nigeria, a pilot study was carried out to determine the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence, patterns, dynamics, and risk factors in the state.

Methods

A cross-sectional study design and clustered, stratified random sampling strategy were used to select 185 test participants across the state. SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM rapid test kits (colloidal gold immunochromatography lateral flow system) were used to determine the presence or absence of antibodies to the virus in the blood of sampled participants across Niger State from June 26 to 30, 2020. The test kits were validated using the blood samples of some of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control–confirmed positive and negative COVID-19 cases in the state. SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM test results were entered into the Epi Info questionnaire administered simultaneously with each test. Epi Info was then used to calculate the arithmetic mean and percentage, odds ratio, χ 2 statistic, and regression at a 95% CI of the data generated.

Results

The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Niger State was found to be 25.4% (47/185) and 2.2% (4/185) for the positive IgG and IgM results, respectively. Seroprevalence among age groups, genders, and occupations varied widely. The COVID-19 asymptomatic rate in the state was found to be 46.8% (22/47). The risk analyses showed that the chances of infection are almost the same for both urban and rural dwellers in the state. However, health care workers, those who experienced flulike symptoms, and those who had contact with a person who traveled out of Nigeria in the last 6 months (February to June 2020) were at double the risk of being infected with the virus. More than half (101/185, 54.6%) of the participants in this study did not practice social distancing at any time since the pandemic started. Participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19 are also discussed.

Conclusions

The observed Niger State SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and infection patterns meansuggest that the virus has widely spread, far more SARS-CoV-2 infections have occurred than the reported cases, and there is a high asymptomatic COVID-19 rate across the state.

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  1. Version published to 10.2196/29587
  2. Version published to 10.1101/2020.08.04.20168112v2 on medRxiv
  3. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.08.04.20168112: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIRB: 2.1 Materials: 2.2 Ethical Approval: Ethical approval (STA/495/Vol/152) for this study was given by the Research Ethics Committee of the Niger Sate Ministry of Health.
    Consent: Consents were also sought from each of the participants prior to tests and questionnaire administration, and only those individuals that have given full consent were used in the study.
    RandomizationWith full consent to participate in the study, samples were taken randomly from 185 participants for COVID-19 IgG and IgM Rapid Tests and questionnaire (created by EPIINFO 7.2.2.6) administered simultaneously. 2.4 Validation of COVID-19 IgG and IgM Rapid Test Kits: The COVID-19 IgG and IgM Rapid Test Kits were validated with the blood samples of those individuals that were confirmed by the NCDC through PCR as positive and or negative for COVID-19 in Niger State.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    The COVID-19 IgG and IgM Rapid Test Kits used in this study does not have cross reaction with positive specimens of parainfluenza virus antibody, influenza A virus antibody, influenza B virus antibody, Chlamydia pneumoniae antibody, Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibody, adenovirus antibody, respiratory syncytial virus antibody, hepatitis B surface antibody, type C Hepatitis virus antibody, Treponema pallidum antibody, human immunodeficiency virus antibody, EB virus antibody, measles virus antibody, cytomegalovirus antibody, enterovirus 71 antibody, mumps virus antibody, HKU1 virus antibody, OC43 virus antibody, NL63 virus antibody, 229E virus antibody, chicken pox zoster virus antibody.
    COVID-19 IgG
    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: 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.

  4. Version published to 10.1101/2020.08.04.20168112v1 on medRxiv