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. 2020 Nov;103(5):2022-2023.
doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0816.

SARS-CoV-2 Serosurvey in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

John H Kempen  1   2   3   4 , Aida Abashawl  5 , Hilkiah K Suga  1 , Mesfin Nigussie Difabachew  6 , Christopher J Kempen  3 , Melaku Tesfaye Debele  6 , Abel A Menkir  1 , Maranatha T Assefa  1 , Eyob H Asfaw  1 , Leul B Habtegabriel  1 , Yohannes Sitotaw Addisie  7 , Eric J Nilles  8   2 , Joseph C Longenecker  9
Affiliations

SARS-CoV-2 Serosurvey in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

John H Kempen et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

In a serosurvey of asymptomatic people from the general population recruited from a clinical laboratory in May 2020 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, three of 99 persons tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 IgG (3.0%, 95% binomial exact confidence interval: 0.6-8.6%). Taking into account pretest probability and the sampling scheme, the range of plausible population prevalence values was approximately 1.0-8.4%. These results suggest that a larger number of people have been infected than the counts detected by surveillance to date; nevertheless, the results suggest the large majority of the general population in Addis Ababa currently is susceptible to COVID-19.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: J. H. K. is a consultant (Data and Safety Monitoring Committee chair) for Gilead Sciences.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The range of plausible values of SARS CoV-2 IgG seropositivity among asymptomatic persons with no history of COVID-19 infection, expressed as probability density (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, May 2020), based on sensitivity and specificity results for the test determined by the University of Washington is shown in the solid line. An alternative range under less favorable sensitivity and specificity assumptions is given in the dotted line. Se = sensitivity; Sp = specificity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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