Abstract
The progression and distribution of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic are continuously changing over time and can be traced by blood donors’ serological survey. Here, we investigated the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in blood donors in Nuevo Leon, Mexico during 2020 as a strategy for the rapid evaluation of the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and asymptomatic case detection. We collected residual plasma samples from blood donors who attended two regional donation centers from January to December of 2020 to identify changes in anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG prevalence. Plasma samples were analyzed on the Abbott Architect instrument using the commercial Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG chemiluminescent assay. We found a total of 99 reactive samples from 2068 analyzed plasma samples, resulting in a raw prevalence of 4.87%. Donors aged 18–49 years were more likely to be seropositive compared to those aged >50 years (p < 0.001). Weekly seroprevalence increased from 1.8% during the early pandemic stage to 27.59% by the end of the year. Prevalence was 1.46-fold higher in females compared to males. Case geographical mapping showed that Monterrey city recorded the majority of SARS-CoV-2 cases. These results show that there is a growing trend of seroprevalence over time associated with asymptomatic infection that is unnoticed under the current epidemiological surveillance protocols.
Highlights
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), producing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has spread worldwide, becoming a significant public health problem
A total of 2068 plasma samples from blood donors were obtained from 1 January to
Despite the expected fluctuation of the seroprevalence throughout the year, in this study we found a clear increase in asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 cases in the studied population
Summary
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), producing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has spread worldwide, becoming a significant public health problem At this time (22 May 2021), it has caused over 166 million cases worldwide and at least 3.4 million deaths [1]. Mexico has not established a screening protocol to identify asymptomatic cases, but it is necessary to take both symptomatic and asymptomatic infected subjects into account in order to obtain more detailed epidemiologic data and recalculate the prevalence and fatality rates of the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies focusing on blood donors to identify SARS-CoV-2-infected persons were conducted in different regions [14,15]. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional seroprevalence survey using residual plasma samples to identify SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG antibodies among blood donors who attended two regional transfusion centers during 2020. Once the donation was approved, blood was fractionated and the fresh plasma was kept at −30 ◦ C until use
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