Abstract
A serosurvey of IgG antibodies against severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was performed during March and April 2020. Among 6,586 leftover sera, 24 (0.36%) were positive, with higher prevalence in females, older individuals and residents of large urban areas. Seroprevalence was estimated at 0.02% and 0.25%, respectively, in March and April, infection fatality rate at 2.66% and 0.54%. Our findings confirm low COVID-19 incidence in Greece and possibly the effectiveness of early measures.
Highlights
Citation style for this article: Bogogiannidou Zacharoula, Vontas Alexandros, Dadouli Katerina, Kyritsi Maria A, Soteriades Soteris, Nikoulis Dimitrios J, Mouchtouri Varvara Α, Koureas Michalis, Kazakos Evangelos I, Spanos Emmanouil G, Gioula Georgia, Ntzani Evangelia E, Eleftheriou Alexandros A, Vatopoulos Alkiviadis, Petinaki Efthimia, Papaevangelou Vassiliki, Speletas Matthaios, Tsiodras Sotirios, Hadjichristodoulou Christos
A serosurvey of IgG antibodies against severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was performed during March and April 2020
On 10 March 2020, with 89 active coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases and 0 deaths reported, the Greek government decided to suspend the operation of all educational institutions throughout the country [1]
Summary
Blood samples were collected by using the leftover sampling methodology (residual sera from the general population) [5]. The weighted proportions of positive tests in the countrywide sample were based on the sex and age distribution within each regional unit (NUTS level 3) and the population of each regional unit, according to the 2011 census (S2) [6]. Since the number of collected samples from each regional unit was not proportional to the regional unit’s population, we calculated an effective sample size based on each regional unit’s population proportion, according to 2011 census data. According to NPHO data and our results, the CFR in March was calculated as 3.61% and the IFR as 2.66%; for April the corresponding values were 6.06% and 0.54% for CFR and IFR, respectively (Tables 1 and 2)
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