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. 2021 Jun 4;13(6):1076.
doi: 10.3390/v13061076.

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2, Symptom Profiles and Sero-Neutralization in a Suburban Area, France

Anne Gégout Petit  1 , Hélène Jeulin  2   3 , Karine Legrand  4 , Nicolas Jay  5 , Agathe Bochnakian  4 , Pierre Vallois  1 , Evelyne Schvoerer  2   3 , Francis Guillemin  4
Affiliations

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2, Symptom Profiles and Sero-Neutralization in a Suburban Area, France

Anne Gégout Petit et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

The World Health Organisation recommends monitoring the circulation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We investigated anti-SARS-CoV-2 total immunoglobulin (IgT) antibody seroprevalence and in vitro sero-neutralization in Nancy, France, in spring 2020. Individuals were randomly sampled from electoral lists and invited with household members over 5 years old to be tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 (IgT, i.e., IgA/IgG/IgM) antibodies by ELISA (Bio-rad); the sero-neutralization activity was evaluated on Vero CCL-81 cells. Among 2006 individuals, the raw seroprevalence was 2.1% (95% confidence interval 1.5 to 2.9), was highest for 20- to 34-year-old participants (4.7% (2.3 to 8.4)), within than out of socially deprived area (2.5% vs. 1%, p = 0.02) and with than without intra-family infection (p < 10-6). Moreover, 25% of participants presented at least one COVID-19 symptom associated with SARS-CoV-2 positivity (p < 10-13), with highly discriminant anosmia or ageusia (odds ratio 27.8 [13.9 to 54.5]); 16.3% (6.8 to 30.7) of seropositive individuals were asymptomatic. Positive sero-neutralization was demonstrated in vitro for 31/43 seropositive subjects. Regarding the very low seroprevalence, a preventive effect of the lockdown in March 2020 can be assumed for the summer, but a second COVID-19 wave, as expected, could be subsequently observed in this poorly immunized population.

Keywords: COVID-19; precariousness; seroprevalence; symptoms profile.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow of serology testing in the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flow of participants in the study.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Dendogram of symptoms in seropositive individuals (n = 43).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Date of onset of symptoms in seropositive symptomatic individuals (n = 36).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Number of SARS-CoV-2 positive patients from the Grand Nancy metropolitan at the Nancy University Hospital between 15 March and 31 December 2020 (black: all, grey: intensive care units).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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