Abstract
BackgroundHemodialysis patients are among high-risk groups for COVID-19. Africa is the continent with the lowest number of cases in the general population but we have little information about the disease burden in dialysis patients.ObjectivesThis study aimed to describe the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the hemodialysis population of Senegal.Patients and methodsWe conducted a multicenter cross-sectional survey, between June and September 2020 involving 10 public dialysis units randomly selected in eight regions of Senegal. After seeking their consent, we included 303 patients aged ≥ 18 years and hemodialysis for ≥ 3 months. Clinical symptoms and biological parameters were collected from medical records. Patients’ blood samples were tested with Abbott SARS-CoV-2 Ig G assay using an Architect system. Statistical tests were performed with STATA 12.0.ResultsSeroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 21.1% (95% CI = 16.7–26.1%). We noticed a wide variability in SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence between regions ranging from 5.6 to 51.7%. Among the 38 patients who underwent nasal swab testing, only six had a PCR-confirmed infection and all of them did seroconvert. Suggestive clinical symptoms were reported by 28.1% of seropositive patients and the majority of them presented asymptomatic disease. After multivariate analysis, a previous contact with a confirmed case and living in a high population density region were associated with the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.ConclusionThis study presents to our knowledge the first seroprevalence data in African hemodialysis patients. Compared to data from other continents, we found a higher proportion of patients with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies but a lower lethality rate.
Highlights
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global health issue since its description in December 2019 in China [1]
This study presents to our knowledge the first seroprevalence data in African hemodialysis patients
This study investigated the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 serologic markers and their associated factors in a nationally representative cohort of hemodialysis patients in Senegal
Summary
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global health issue since its description in December 2019 in China [1]. Various strategies to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection in patients receiving in-center hemodialysis have been rapidly implemented in many countries [3]. In Senegal, such measures were implemented in all the 20 public dialysis centers receiving a cohort of 1100 patients with about 380 annual incident patients. Despite these measures, high numbers of COVID-19 cases and related death have been continuously reported in the world. The African continent was less hit by the pandemic with lower incident cases and death in the general population [4] and patients with ESRD [5]. Africa is the continent with the lowest number of cases in the general population but we have little information about the disease burden in dialysis patients
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