Dataset Information

Higher SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in workers with lower socioeconomic status in Cape Town, South Africa.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Inequality is rife throughout South Africa. The first wave of COVID-19 may have affected people in lower socioeconomic groups worse than the affluent. The SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and the specificity of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests in South Africa is not known.

Methods

We tested 405 volunteers representing all socioeconomic strata from the workforce of a popular shopping and tourist complex in central Cape Town with the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay. We assessed the association between antibody positivity and COVID-19 symptom status, medical history, and sociodemographic variables. We tested 137 serum samples from healthy controls collected in Cape Town prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, to confirm the specificity of the assay in the local population.

Results

Of the 405 volunteers tested one month after the first peak of the epidemic in Cape Town, 96(23.7%) were SARS-CoV-2 IgG positive. Of those who tested positive, 46(47.9%) reported no symptoms of COVID-19 in the previous 6 months. Seropositivity was significantly associated with living in informal housing, residing in a subdistrict with low income-per household, and having a low-earning occupation. The specificity of the assay was 98.54%(95%CI 94.82%-99.82%) in the pre-COVID controls.

Conclusions

There is a high background seroprevalence in Cape Town, particularly in people of lower socioeconomic status. Almost half of cases are asymptomatic, and therefore undiagnosed by local testing strategies. These results cannot be explained by low assay specificity.

SUBMITTER: Shaw JA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7906413 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Higher SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in workers with lower socioeconomic status in Cape Town, South Africa.

Shaw Jane Alexandra JA Meiring Maynard M Cummins Tracy T Chegou Novel N NN Claassen Conita C Du Plessis Nelita N Flinn Marika M Hiemstra Andriette A Kleynhans Léanie L Leukes Vinzeigh V Loxton Andre G AG MacDonald Candice C Mtala Nosipho N Reuter Helmuth H Simon Donald D Stanley Kim K Tromp Gerard G Preiser Wolfgang W Malherbe Stephanus T ST Walzl Gerhard G

PloS one 20210225 2

<h4>Background</h4>Inequality is rife throughout South Africa. The first wave of COVID-19 may have affected people in lower socioeconomic groups worse than the affluent. The SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and the specificity of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests in South Africa is not known.<h4>Methods</h4>We tested 405 volunteers representing all socioeconomic strata from the workforce of a popular shopping and tourist complex in central Cape Town with the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay. We assessed the as ...[more]

PMID: 33630977

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Dataset Information

Higher SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in workers with lower socioeconomic status in Cape Town, South Africa.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Higher SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in workers with lower socioeconomic status in Cape Town, South Africa.

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