Anti COVID-19 immunity developed as assessed in a community-based oncological center

Abstract

Introduction: Serology (antibody) tests for the SARS-CoV-2 have been proposed as an instrument to inform health authorities about immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic. As there is a significant part of the population that may have some degree of immunity, it is of great interest to communicate the immunization results obtained in the first 500 healthcare workers (HCW), patients and relatives tested in a community-based Oncological Center. Materials and methods: Between April 9th, 2020 and May 8th, 2020, a group of healthcare workers (HCW), their families, and general public who had had the COVID-19 or had been in close contact with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were screened for IgG SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The tests were carried out in a rigorous manner, strictly following the guidelines approved by the Spanish Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Sanidad). Results: The major objective of this study was to determine the proportion of asymptomatic infected individuals and those who had already secreted IgG against SARS-CoV-2 in our cancer treatment center or in the community of Barcelona. Patients were tested with PCR, Rapid diagnostic test (RDT) or enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA). A total of 521 participants were tested, 206 with RDT and 315 with ELISA, 59 (11,32%) resulted positive to SARS-CoV-2. Conclusion: RDT and ELISA proved to be effective and sensible enough to determine the extent of SARS-CoV-2 immunization in a community-based oncological center. The degree of immunization reached is nowadays far away from what can be considered desirable for a herd immunization.