Prevalence, Distribution and IgG Antibody Levels Associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Among Health-System and Community-Based Employees and Patients

Abstract

Background: Following the high morbidity and mortality due to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections in New Orleans, Louisiana, we sought to assess progress toward herd immunity.

Methods: Ochsner Health employees and patients who volunteered for Abbott SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody test between March 1 and May 1, 2020 were included. We estimated IgG prevalence and used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for variables associated with IgG test status.

Results: Of the 13,343 participants with IgG test results, 78.6% were women, 70.6% were non-Hispanic White, 21.1% non-Hispanic Black, 2.9% Hispanic Americans and 5.4% belonged to other races. Overall, 7.99% (95% CI: 7.53-8.45%) of the participants tested IgG positive. In age-, sex- and body mass index (BMI)-adjusted analyses, non-Hispanic Blacks were 2.7-times more likely to test positive than non-Hispanic Whites (OR=2.72; 95% CI: 2.33-3.19). Corresponding ORs (95% CIs) were 1.29 (0.84-1.99) for Hispanic Americans and 1.22 (0.85-1.75) for Other race/ethnicities. Compared to participants in administrative occupations, physician assistants (OR=7.14; 95% CI: 1.72-29.6) and therapists (OR=4.74; 95% CI: 1.49-15.03) were significantly more likely to have IgG antibodies while the association among nurses was not significant (OR=2.35; 95% CI: 0.96-5.77). Relative to 1.40, the test threshold for positivity, our measurements indicate a strong immune response (5.38±1.69), especially among those with a higher BMI.

Conclusions: SARS-COV-2 IgG antibodies were prevalent only in 8% of the participants. IgG prevalence was highest among non-Hispanic Blacks and participants with higher BMI but was lower among older participants.

Keywords: COVID-19; IgG antibodies; Non-Hispanic Blacks; Prevalence; SARS-COV-2.

Figure 1

The number of days between first positive COVID-19 PCR test and immunoglobulin G (IgG) test is not associated with the magnitude of the antibody response as measured by the Abbott Architect SARS-COV-2 IgG test.