Type | Journal Article - Emerg Infect Dis |
Title | SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence in a Rural and Urban Household Cohort during First and Second Waves of Infections, South Africa, July 2020-March 2021 |
Volume | 27 |
Issue | 12 |
Publication (Day/Month/Year) | 2021 |
Page numbers | 3020-3029 |
URL | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34477548 |
Abstract | Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections may be underestimated because of limited access to testing. We measured SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in South Africa every 2 months during July 2020-March 2021 in randomly selected household cohorts in 2 communities. We compared seroprevalence to reported laboratory-confirmed infections, hospitalizations, and deaths to calculate infection-case, infection-hospitalization, and infection-fatality ratios in 2 waves of infection. Post-second wave seroprevalence ranged from 18% in the rural community children <5 years of age, to 59% in urban community adults 35-59 years of age. The second wave saw a shift in age distribution of case-patients in the urban community (from persons 35-59 years of age to persons at the extremes of age), higher attack rates in the rural community, and a higher infection-fatality ratio in the urban community. Approximately 95% of SARS-CoV-2 infections were not reported to national surveillance. |