Seroepidemiologic Study Designs for Determining SARS-COV-2 Transmission and Immunity
- 1 September 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Vol. 26 (9), 1978-1986
- https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2609.201840
Abstract
Serologic studies are crucial for clarifying dynamics of the coronavirus disease pandemic. Past work on serologic studies (e.g., during influenza pandemics) has made relevant contributions, but specific conditions of the current situation require adaptation. Although detection of antibodies to measure exposure, immunity, or both seems straightforward conceptually, numerous challenges exist in terms of sample collection, what the presence of antibodies actually means, and appropriate analysis and interpretation to account for test accuracy and sampling biases. Successful deployment of serologic studies depends on type and performance of serologic tests, population studied, use of adequate study designs, and appropriate analysis and interpretation of data. We highlight key questions that serologic studies can help answer at different times, review strengths and limitations of different assay types and study designs, and discuss methods for rapid sharing and analysis of serologic data to determine global transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.Keywords
This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit:
- Cohort Profile: The Singapore Multi-Ethnic Cohort (MEC) studyInternational Journal of Epidemiology, 2018
- Nextstrain: real-time tracking of pathogen evolutionBioinformatics, 2018
- Individual and Population Trajectories of Influenza Antibody Titers Over Multiple Seasons in a Tropical CountryAmerican Journal of Epidemiology, 2018
- Rethinking thresholds for serological evidence of influenza virus infectionInfluenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 2017
- Linking the seroresponse to infection to within-host heterogeneity in antibody productionEpidemics, 2016
- Use of serological surveys to generate key insights into the changing global landscape of infectious diseaseThe Lancet, 2016
- Reconstruction of 60 Years of Chikungunya Epidemiology in the Philippines Demonstrates Episodic and Focal TransmissionThe Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2015
- Influenza Infection Rates, Measurement Errors and the Interpretation of Paired SerologyPLoS Pathogens, 2012
- Estimating Infection Attack Rates and Severity in Real Time during an Influenza Pandemic: Analysis of Serial Cross-Sectional Serologic Surveillance DataPLoS Medicine, 2011
- Burden of symptomatic dengue infection in children at primary school in Thailand: a prospective studyThe Lancet, 2007