tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Open Forum Infect Dis
. 2023 Dec 14;11(1)
fad614.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad614. eCollection 2024 Jan. Seroprevalence of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Remained Extremely Low in Taiwan Until the Vaccination Program Was Implemented
Yun-Yuan Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Min-Hui Yang[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Jou-Zhen Lai[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Jen-Wei Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yun-Long Wang[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Sheng-Tang Wei[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sheng-Mou Hou[SUP] 1 3 [/SUP], Chien-Jen Chen[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Ho-Sheng Wu[SUP] 2 5 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Background: The Taiwanese government made a concerted effort to contain a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) nosocomial outbreak of variant B.1.429, shortly before universal vaccination program implementation. This study aimed to investigate seroprevalence in the highest-risk regions.
Methods: Between January and February 2021, we retrieved 10 000 repository serum samples from blood donors to examine for antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid (N) and spike (S) antigens. A positive result was confirmed if anti-N and anti-S antibodies were positive. Overall, 2000 donors residing in the highest-risk district and donating blood in January 2021 were further examined for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. We estimated seroprevalence and compared the epidemic curve between confirmed COVID-19 cases and blood donors with positive antibodies or viral RNA.
Results: Twenty-one cases with COVID-19 were confirmed in the nosocomial cluster, with an incidence of 1.27/100 000 in the COVID-affected districts. Among 4888 close contacts of the nosocomial cases, 20 (0.4%) became confirmed cases during isolation. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 2 of the 10000 blood donors, showing a seroprevalence of 2/10000 (95% CI, 0.55-7.29). None of the 2000 donors who underwent tests for SARS-CoV-2 RNA were positive. The SARS-CoV-2 infection epidemic curve was observed sporadically in blood donors compared with the nosocomial cluster.
Conclusions: In early 2021, an extremely low anti-SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among blood donors was observed. Epidemic control measures through precise close contact tracing, testing, and isolation effectively contained SARS-CoV-2 transmission before universal vaccination program implementation.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; nosocomial infection; seroprevalence; transfusion safety.
. 2023 Dec 14;11(1)
fad614.doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad614. eCollection 2024 Jan. Seroprevalence of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Remained Extremely Low in Taiwan Until the Vaccination Program Was Implemented
Yun-Yuan Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Min-Hui Yang[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Jou-Zhen Lai[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Jen-Wei Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yun-Long Wang[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Sheng-Tang Wei[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sheng-Mou Hou[SUP] 1 3 [/SUP], Chien-Jen Chen[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Ho-Sheng Wu[SUP] 2 5 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 38192381
- PMCID: PMC10773475
- DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofad614
Background: The Taiwanese government made a concerted effort to contain a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) nosocomial outbreak of variant B.1.429, shortly before universal vaccination program implementation. This study aimed to investigate seroprevalence in the highest-risk regions.
Methods: Between January and February 2021, we retrieved 10 000 repository serum samples from blood donors to examine for antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid (N) and spike (S) antigens. A positive result was confirmed if anti-N and anti-S antibodies were positive. Overall, 2000 donors residing in the highest-risk district and donating blood in January 2021 were further examined for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. We estimated seroprevalence and compared the epidemic curve between confirmed COVID-19 cases and blood donors with positive antibodies or viral RNA.
Results: Twenty-one cases with COVID-19 were confirmed in the nosocomial cluster, with an incidence of 1.27/100 000 in the COVID-affected districts. Among 4888 close contacts of the nosocomial cases, 20 (0.4%) became confirmed cases during isolation. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 2 of the 10000 blood donors, showing a seroprevalence of 2/10000 (95% CI, 0.55-7.29). None of the 2000 donors who underwent tests for SARS-CoV-2 RNA were positive. The SARS-CoV-2 infection epidemic curve was observed sporadically in blood donors compared with the nosocomial cluster.
Conclusions: In early 2021, an extremely low anti-SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among blood donors was observed. Epidemic control measures through precise close contact tracing, testing, and isolation effectively contained SARS-CoV-2 transmission before universal vaccination program implementation.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; nosocomial infection; seroprevalence; transfusion safety.