SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence and associated risk factors in an urban district in Cameroon

Kene Nwosu (), Joseph Fokam, Franck Wanda, Lucien Mama, Erol Orel, Nicolas Ray, Jeanine Meke, Armel Tassegning, Desire Takou, Eric Mimbe, Beat Stoll, Josselin Guillebert, Eric Comte, Olivia Keiser and Laura Ciaffi
Additional contact information
Kene Nwosu: University of Geneva
Joseph Fokam: Chantal BIYA International Reference Centre for Research on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Management
Franck Wanda: Centre International de Recherches, d’Enseignements, et de Soins (CIRES)
Lucien Mama: Health District of Cite Verte, Regional Delegation of Public Health
Erol Orel: University of Geneva
Nicolas Ray: University of Geneva
Jeanine Meke: Centre International de Recherches, d’Enseignements, et de Soins (CIRES)
Armel Tassegning: Centre International de Recherches, d’Enseignements, et de Soins (CIRES)
Desire Takou: Chantal BIYA International Reference Centre for Research on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Management
Eric Mimbe: Site de Coordination ANRS Cameroun, Hopital Central de Yaounde
Beat Stoll: University of Geneva
Josselin Guillebert: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Eric Comte: University of Geneva
Olivia Keiser: University of Geneva
Laura Ciaffi: Site de Coordination ANRS Cameroun, Hopital Central de Yaounde

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The extent of SARS-CoV-2 circulation in many African countries remains unclear, underlining the need for antibody sero-surveys to assess the cumulative attack rate. Here, we present the results of a cross-sectional sero-survey of a random sample of residents of a health district in Yaounde, Cameroon, conducted from October 14 to November 26, 2020. Among the 971 participants, the test-adjusted seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies was 29·2% (95% CI 24·3–34·1). This is about 322 times greater than the 0.09% nationwide attack rate implied by COVID-19 case counts at the time. Men, obese individuals and those living in large households were significantly more likely to be seropositive, and the majority (64·2% [58·7–69·4]) of seropositive individuals reported no symptoms. Despite the high seroprevalence, most of the population had not been infected with SARS-CoV-2, highlighting the importance of continued measures to control viral spread and quick vaccine deployment to protect the vulnerable.

Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-25946-0 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-25946-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25946-0

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().