SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibodies Seroprevalence and Sera Neutralizing Activity in MEXICO: A National Cross-Sectional Study during 2020
Open Access
- 15 April 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Microorganisms
- Vol. 9 (4), 850
- https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9040850
Abstract
Until recently, the incidence of COVID-19 was primarily estimated using molecular diagnostic methods. However, the number of cases is vastly underreported using these methods. Seroprevalence studies estimate cumulative infection incidences and allow monitoring of transmission dynamics, and the presence of neutralizing antibodies in the population. In February 2020, the Mexican Social Security Institute began conducting anonymous unrelated sampling of residual sera from specimens across the country, excluding patients with fever within the previous two weeks and/or patients with an acute respiratory infection. Sampling was carried out weekly and began 17 days before Mexico’s first officially confirmed case. The 24,273 sera obtained were analyzed by chemiluminescent-linked immunosorbent assay (CLIA) IgG S1/S2 and, later, positive cases using this technique were also analyzed to determine the rate of neutralization using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We identified 40 CLIA IgG positive cases before the first official report of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Mexico. The national seroprevalence was 3.5% in February and 33.5% in December. Neutralizing activity among IgG positives patients during overall study period was 86.1%. The extent of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in Mexico is 21 times higher than that reported by molecular techniques. Although the general population is still far from achieving herd immunity, epidemiological indicators should be re-estimated based on serological studies of this type.Keywords
Funding Information
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (312862)
This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit:
- Severe Covid-19The New England Journal of Medicine, 2020
- Performance Characteristics of the Abbott Architect SARS-CoV-2 IgG Assay and Seroprevalence in Boise, IdahoJournal of Clinical Microbiology, 2020
- Molecular and Serological Tests for COVID-19. A Comparative Review of SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Laboratory and Point-of-Care DiagnosticsDiagnostics, 2020
- The receptor-binding domain of the viral spike protein is an immunodominant and highly specific target of antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 patientsScience Immunology, 2020
- Molecular Diagnosis of COVID-19: Challenges and Research NeedsAnalytical Chemistry, 2020
- Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in Geneva, Switzerland (SEROCoV-POP): a population-based studyThe Lancet, 2020
- Seroprevalence of immunoglobulin M and G antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in ChinaNature Medicine, 2020
- Individual variation in susceptibility or exposure to SARS-CoV-2 lowers the herd immunity thresholdPublished by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory ,2020
- A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019The New England Journal of Medicine, 2020
- Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, ChinaThe Lancet, 2020