Korea Seroprevalence Study of Monitoring of SARS-COV-2 Antibody Retention and Transmission (K-SEROSMART): findings from national representative sample.

OBJECTIVES: We estimated the population prevalence of antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), including unreported infections, through a Korea Seroprevalence Study of Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Retention and Transmission (K-SEROSMART) in 258 communities throughout Korea. METHODS: In August 2022, a survey was conducted among 10,000 household members aged 5 years and older, in households selected through two stage probability random sampling. During face-to-face household interviews, participants self-reported their health status, COVID-19 diagnosis and vaccination history, and general characteristics. Subsequently, participants visited a community health center or medical clinic for blood sampling. Blood samples were analyzed for the presence of antibodies to spike proteins (anti-S) and antibodies to nucleocapsid proteins (anti-N) SARS-CoV-2 proteins using an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. To estimate the population prevalence, the PROC SURVEYMEANS statistical procedure was employed, with weighting to reflect demographic data from July 2022. RESULTS: In total, 9,945 individuals from 5,041 households were surveyed across 258 communities, representing all basic local governments in Korea. The overall population-adjusted prevalence rates of anti-S and anti-N were 97.6% and 57.1%, respectively. Since the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has reported a cumulative incidence of confirmed cases of 37.8% through July 31, 2022, the proportion of unreported infections among all COVID-19 infection was suggested to be 33.9%. CONCLUSIONS: The K-SEROSMART represents the first nationwide, community-based seroepidemiologic survey of COVID-19, confirming that most individuals possess antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and that a significant number of unreported cases existed. Furthermore, this study lays the foundation for a surveillance system to continuously monitor transmission at the community level and the response to COVID-19.

Physiochemical Changes and Optimization of Phosphate-Treated Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei ) Using Response Surface Methodology.

The objective of this study was to determine the factors responsible for the changed physiochemical properties of unpeeled shrimp treated in cold phosphate solution (2~4°C) with the intervention of 4 factors: phosphate concentration, dipping time, rotation speed, and volume of brine solution. Response surface analysis was used to characterize the effect of the phosphate treatment on shrimps by running 33 treatments for optimizing the experiment. For each treatment, phosphate amount, moisture content, and weight gain were measured. The results showed that phosphate concentration is the most important factor than other factors for facilitating phosphate penetration in the meat of the shrimp and for getting the best result. The optimum condition of phosphate-treated shrimp in this study was 110 to 120 min dipping time, 500 to 550 mL brine solution for 100 g shrimp sample, and 190 to 210 rpm agitation speed. The studied conditions can be applied in fisheries and other food industries for good phosphate treatments.