Retrospective analysis of seroprevalence in a cohort of university students of Rome (Italy) between September 2020 and July 2021.
Epidemiol Prev
; 46(5-6): 367-375, 2022.
Article
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| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36628641
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
the reopening of Universities in a COVID-19 pandemic context represented a potential source of virus transmission among students.OBJECTIVES:
to measure the SARS-CoV-2 real circulation among university students attending the University of Rome 'Niccolò Cusano' by seroprevalence analysis.DESIGN:
retrospective study based on a point-of-care (POC) SARS-CoV-2 rapid qualitative serological screening performed on asymptomatic students attending the University. SETTING ANDPARTICIPANTS:
between September 2020 to July 2021 at Niccolò Cusano University, 9,588 SARS-CoV-2 lateral-flow rapid qualitative antibody assays were performed on a total of 2,423 asymptomatic students. Among them, 389 individuals with compulsory attendance were tested every 10 days for a minimum observational period of 7 months. MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG antibodies was estimated at more levels. It was calculated 1. the number of positive cases detected among the total number of students tested during the screening period; 2. the cumulative seroprevalence over the time, and the seroprevalence distribution over the months; 3. the duration of seropositivity after SARS-CoV-2 infection in the known previous infected students repeatedly tested.RESULTS:
a total of 112 participants had a SARS-CoV-2 positive IgG and/or IgM antibodies test, 39 of them with a documented history of previous infection. In the remaining 73 cases, 24 were confirmed with an external quantitative serological analysis and identified as individuals with unknown previous SARS-CoV-2 exposure, 17 resulted false positive and 32 subjects were excluded. The total seroprevalence was 2.6% (95%CI 2.0%-3.3%) and among the 63 confirmed seropositive cases, 75% had detectable IgG antibodies, 3% had IgM antibodies, and 22% were positive for both IgM and IgG antibodies. In the 389 repeatedly-tested students, 36 students were positive to SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, 14 with unknown previous infection, and 22 with known previous infection. Among these, 50% retained immune memory up to 4 months post infection and 27% of cases retained seropositivity up to 7 months.CONCLUSIONS:
the data collected has been useful to measure a real epidemiological rate of the virus spread in a cohort of students in Italy as well as to obtain information on the antibodies seropositivity duration in individuals with previous infection.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Pandemias
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Epidemiol Prev
Asunto de la revista:
EPIDEMIOLOGIA
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article