. 2020 Dec;65(9):1529-1548.

doi: 10.1007/s00038-020-01494-0. Epub 2020 Oct 24.

Corona Immunitas: study protocol of a nationwide program of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and seroepidemiologic studies in Switzerland

Erin A West¹, Daniela Anker², Rebecca Amati³, Aude Richard^{4

5}, Ania Wisniak^{4

5}, Audrey Butty⁶, Emiliano Albanese³, Murielle Bochud⁶, Arnaud Chiolero^{2

7

8}, Luca Crivelli^{3

9}, Stéphane Cullati^{2

10}, Valérie d'Acremont^{6

11

12}, Adina Mihaela Epure^{2

6}, Jan Fehr¹, Antoine Flahault⁵, Luc Fornerod¹³, Irène Frank¹⁴, Anja Frei¹, Gisela Michel¹⁵, Semira Gonseth⁶, Idris Guessous⁴, Medea Imboden^{11

12}, Christian R Kahlert^{16

17}, Laurent Kaufmann¹⁸, Philipp Kohler¹⁶, Nicolai Mösli^{11

12}, Daniel Paris^{11

12}, Nicole Probst-Hensch^{11

12}, Nicolas Rodondi^{7

19}, Silvia Stringhini^{4

6}, Thomas Vermes^{11

12}, Fabian Vollrath²⁰, Milo A Puhan²¹; Corona Immunitas Research Group

Collaborators, Affiliations

Collaborators

Corona Immunitas Research Group:
Emiliano Albanese, Rebecca Amati, Antonio Amendola, Daniela Anker, Anna Maria Annoni, Andrew Azman, Frank Bally, Bettina Balmer, Hélène Baysson, Delphine Berthod, Jacob Blankenberger, Murielle Bochud, Patrick Bodenmann, Matthias Bopp, Audrey Butty, Anne Linda Camerini, Céline Cappeli, Cristian Carmelli, Arnaud Chiolero, Prune Collombet, Laurie Corna, Jenny Crawford, Luca Crivelli, Stéphane Cullati, Alexia Cusini, Valérie D'Acremont, Carlo De Pietro, Agathe Deschamps, Sophie Droz, Alexis Dumoulin, Olivier Duperrex, Julien Dupraz, Malik Egger, Nathalie Engler, Adina Mihaela Epure, Sandrine Estoppey, Marta Fadda, Vincent Faivre, Jan Fehr, Andrea Felappi, Maddalena Fiordelli, Antoine Flahault, Luc Fornerod, Cristina Fragoso Corti, Marion Frangville, Irène Frank, Giovanni Franscella, Anja Frei, Doreen Gille, Gisela Michel, Semira Gonseth Nusslé, Auriane Gouzowski, Idris Guessous, Julien Guggisberg, Huldrych Günthard, Felix Gutzwiller, Loussine Incici, Emilie Jendly, Ruedi Jung, Christian Kahlert, Laurent Kaiser, Laurent Kaufmann, Marco Kaufmann, Simone Kessler, Philipp Kohler, Susi Kriemler, Lauranne Lenoir, Sara Levati, Bettina Maeschli, Jean-Luc Magnin, Eric Masserey, Rosalba Morese, Nicolai Mösli, Natacha Noël, Maëlle Orhant, Jérôme Pasquier, Francesco Pennacchio, Dusan Petrovic, Stefan Pfister, Attilio Picazio, Cesarina Prandi, Giovanni Piumatti, Jane Portier, Nicole Probst-Hensch, Caroline Pugin, Milo Puhan, Thomas Radtke, Aude Richard, Claude-François Robert, Pierre-Yves Rodondi, Nicholas Rodondi, Eric Salberg, Javier Sanchis Zozaya, Virginie Schlüter, Valentine Schneider, Amélie Steiner-Dubuis, Silvia Stringhini, Johannes Sumer, Ismaël Tall, Julien Thabard, Mauro Tonolla, Nicolas Troillet, Agne Ulyte, Sophie Vassaux, Thomas Vermes, Fabian Vollrath, Viktor von Wyl, Erin West, Ania Wisniak, Maria-Eugenia Zaballa, Claire Zuppinger

Affiliations

¹ Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001, Zurich, Switzerland.
² Population Health Laboratory (#PopHealthLab), University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
³ Institute of Public Health, Università Della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland.
⁴ Unit of Population Epidemiology, Division of Primary Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Institute of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁶ Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁷ Institute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
⁸ Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
⁹ Department of Business Economics, Health and Social Care, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Manno, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Department of Readaptation and Geriatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹¹ Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
¹² University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
¹³ Health Observatory of Valais, Sion, Switzerland.
¹⁴ Clinical Trial Unit, Cantonal Hospital Luzern, Luzern, Switzerland.
¹⁵ Department of Health Sciences and Medicine, University of Luzern, Luzern, Switzerland.
¹⁶ Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
¹⁷ Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, Children's Hospital of Eastern Switzerland, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
¹⁸ Service de La Santé Publique, Canton de Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
¹⁹ Department of General Internal Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
²⁰ Corona Immunitas Program Management Group, Swiss School of Public Health, Zurich, Switzerland.
²¹ Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001, Zurich, Switzerland. miloalan.puhan@uzh.ch.

PMID: 33098441
PMCID: PMC7584867
DOI: 10.1007/s00038-020-01494-0

Corona Immunitas: study protocol of a nationwide program of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and seroepidemiologic studies in Switzerland

Erin A West et al. Int J Public Health. 2020 Dec.

. 2020 Dec;65(9):1529-1548.

doi: 10.1007/s00038-020-01494-0. Epub 2020 Oct 24.

Authors

Collaborators

Corona Immunitas Research Group:
Emiliano Albanese, Rebecca Amati, Antonio Amendola, Daniela Anker, Anna Maria Annoni, Andrew Azman, Frank Bally, Bettina Balmer, Hélène Baysson, Delphine Berthod, Jacob Blankenberger, Murielle Bochud, Patrick Bodenmann, Matthias Bopp, Audrey Butty, Anne Linda Camerini, Céline Cappeli, Cristian Carmelli, Arnaud Chiolero, Prune Collombet, Laurie Corna, Jenny Crawford, Luca Crivelli, Stéphane Cullati, Alexia Cusini, Valérie D'Acremont, Carlo De Pietro, Agathe Deschamps, Sophie Droz, Alexis Dumoulin, Olivier Duperrex, Julien Dupraz, Malik Egger, Nathalie Engler, Adina Mihaela Epure, Sandrine Estoppey, Marta Fadda, Vincent Faivre, Jan Fehr, Andrea Felappi, Maddalena Fiordelli, Antoine Flahault, Luc Fornerod, Cristina Fragoso Corti, Marion Frangville, Irène Frank, Giovanni Franscella, Anja Frei, Doreen Gille, Gisela Michel, Semira Gonseth Nusslé, Auriane Gouzowski, Idris Guessous, Julien Guggisberg, Huldrych Günthard, Felix Gutzwiller, Loussine Incici, Emilie Jendly, Ruedi Jung, Christian Kahlert, Laurent Kaiser, Laurent Kaufmann, Marco Kaufmann, Simone Kessler, Philipp Kohler, Susi Kriemler, Lauranne Lenoir, Sara Levati, Bettina Maeschli, Jean-Luc Magnin, Eric Masserey, Rosalba Morese, Nicolai Mösli, Natacha Noël, Maëlle Orhant, Jérôme Pasquier, Francesco Pennacchio, Dusan Petrovic, Stefan Pfister, Attilio Picazio, Cesarina Prandi, Giovanni Piumatti, Jane Portier, Nicole Probst-Hensch, Caroline Pugin, Milo Puhan, Thomas Radtke, Aude Richard, Claude-François Robert, Pierre-Yves Rodondi, Nicholas Rodondi, Eric Salberg, Javier Sanchis Zozaya, Virginie Schlüter, Valentine Schneider, Amélie Steiner-Dubuis, Silvia Stringhini, Johannes Sumer, Ismaël Tall, Julien Thabard, Mauro Tonolla, Nicolas Troillet, Agne Ulyte, Sophie Vassaux, Thomas Vermes, Fabian Vollrath, Viktor von Wyl, Erin West, Ania Wisniak, Maria-Eugenia Zaballa, Claire Zuppinger

Affiliations

¹ Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001, Zurich, Switzerland.
² Population Health Laboratory (#PopHealthLab), University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
³ Institute of Public Health, Università Della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland.
⁴ Unit of Population Epidemiology, Division of Primary Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Institute of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁶ Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁷ Institute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
⁸ Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
⁹ Department of Business Economics, Health and Social Care, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Manno, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Department of Readaptation and Geriatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹¹ Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
¹² University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
¹³ Health Observatory of Valais, Sion, Switzerland.
¹⁴ Clinical Trial Unit, Cantonal Hospital Luzern, Luzern, Switzerland.
¹⁵ Department of Health Sciences and Medicine, University of Luzern, Luzern, Switzerland.
¹⁶ Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
¹⁷ Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, Children's Hospital of Eastern Switzerland, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
¹⁸ Service de La Santé Publique, Canton de Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
¹⁹ Department of General Internal Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
²⁰ Corona Immunitas Program Management Group, Swiss School of Public Health, Zurich, Switzerland.
²¹ Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001, Zurich, Switzerland. miloalan.puhan@uzh.ch.

PMID: 33098441
PMCID: PMC7584867
DOI: 10.1007/s00038-020-01494-0

Abstract

Objectives: Seroprevalence studies to assess the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population and subgroups are key for evaluating mitigation and vaccination policies and for understanding the spread of the disease both on the national level and for comparison with the international community.

Methods: Corona Immunitas is a research program of coordinated, population-based, seroprevalence studies implemented by Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+). Over 28,340 participants, randomly selected and age-stratified, with some regional specificities will be included. Additional studies in vulnerable and highly exposed subpopulations are also planned. The studies will assess population immunological status during the pandemic.

Results: Phase one (first wave of pandemic) estimates from Geneva showed a steady increase in seroprevalence up to 10.8% (95% CI 8.2-13.9, n = 775) by May 9, 2020. Since June, Zurich, Lausanne, Basel City/Land, Ticino, and Fribourg recruited a total of 5973 participants for phase two thus far.

Conclusions: Corona Immunitas will generate reliable, comparable, and high-quality serological and epidemiological data with extensive coverage of Switzerland and of several subpopulations, informing health policies and decision making in both economic and societal sectors. ISRCTN Registry: https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN18181860 .

Keywords: Hygiene practices; Longitudinal; Prevalence; SARS-CoV-2; Serosurvey; Socioeconomic differences.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Phases of the pandemic as defined in the Corona Immunitas program (Switzerland 2020–2021)

**Fig. 2**
Overview of seroprevalence studies in Switzerland (Corona Immunitas 2020–2021). ZH Zurich, BE Bern, LU Luzern, UR Uri, SZ Schwytz, OW Obwald, NW Nidwald, GL Glarus, ZG Zug, FR Fribourg, SO Solothurn, BS Basel-City, BL Basel-Land, SH Schaffhausen, AR Appenzell Ausserrhoden, AI Appenzell Innerrhoden, SG St. Gallen, GR Graubünden, AG Aargau, TG Thurgau, TI Ticino, VD Vaud, VS Valais, NE Neuchâtel, GE Geneva, JU Jura, *PrEP* Pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention. See Tables 1 and 2 for a detailed description of the studies. (Corona Immunitas, Switzerland, 2020–2021). *Children study with white bottoms instead of blue bottoms means there is no population-based children’s study

**Fig. 3**
Example study flow of seroprevalence studies (Corona Immunitas, Switzerland, 2020–2021)

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Arora RK, Joseph A, Van Wyk J, Rocco S, Atmaja A, May E, et al. (2020) SeroTracker: a global SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence dashboard. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020;3099(20):9–10. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30631-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Bobrovitz N, Arora RK, Yan T, Rahim H, Duarte N, Boucher E, et al. Lessons from a rapid systematic review of early SARS-CoV-2 serosurveys. medRxiv. 2020 doi: 10.1101/2020.05.10.20097451. - DOI
1. Corona Immunitas (2020) Choosing a common test. https://www.de.corona-immunitas.ch/blog/choosing-a-common-test. Accessed 21 July 2020
1. de Mestral C, Stringhini S, Guessous I, Jornayvaz FR. Thirteen-year trends in the prevalence of diabetes in an urban region of Switzerland: a population-based study. Diabet Med. 2019;2019:1374–1378. - PubMed
1. Deeks JJ, Dinnes J, Takwoingi Y, Davenport C, Spijker R, Taylor-Phillips S, et al. (2020) Antibody tests for identification of current and past infection with SARS-CoV-2. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020;6:CD013652. - PMC - PubMed

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Corona Immunitas: study protocol of a nationwide program of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and seroepidemiologic studies in Switzerland

Collaborators

Affiliations

Corona Immunitas: study protocol of a nationwide program of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and seroepidemiologic studies in Switzerland

Authors

Collaborators

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical

Miscellaneous