Journal article
SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in three Kenyan health and demographic surveillance sites, December 2020-May 2021
- Abstract:
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Background
Most of the studies that have informed the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya have relied on samples that are not representative of the general population. We conducted population-based serosurveys at three Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSSs) to determine the cumulative incidence of infection with SARS-CoV-2.
Methods
We selected random age-stratified population-based samples at HDSSs in Kisumu, Nairobi and Kilifi, in Kenya. Blood samples were collected from participants between 01 Dec 2020 and 27 May 2021. No participant had received a COVID-19 vaccine. We tested for IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using ELISA. Locally-validated assay sensitivity and specificity were 93% (95% CI 88–96%) and 99% (95% CI 98–99.5%), respectively. We adjusted prevalence estimates using classical methods and Bayesian modelling to account for the sampling scheme and assay performance.
Results
We recruited 2,559 individuals from the three HDSS sites, median age (IQR) 27 (10–78) years and 52% were female. Seroprevalence at all three sites rose steadily during the study period. In Kisumu, Nairobi and Kilifi, seroprevalences (95% CI) at the beginning of the study were 36.0% (28.2–44.4%), 32.4% (23.1–42.4%), and 14.5% (9.1–21%), and respectively; at the end they were 42.0% (34.7–50.0%), 50.2% (39.7–61.1%), and 24.7% (17.5–32.6%), respectively. Seroprevalence was substantially lower among children (<16 years) than among adults at all three sites (p≤0.001).
Conclusion
By May 2021 in three broadly representative populations of unvaccinated individuals in Kenya, seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG was 25–50%. There was wide variation in cumulative incidence by location and age.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 848.2KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000883
Authors
- Publisher:
- Public Library of Science
- Journal:
- PLOS Global Public Health More from this journal
- Volume:
- 2
- Issue:
- 8
- Article number:
- e0000883
- Place of publication:
- United States
- Publication date:
- 2022-08-18
- Acceptance date:
- 2022-07-12
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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2767-3375
- Pmid:
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36962821
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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1334544
- Local pid:
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pubs:1334544
- Deposit date:
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2023-05-10
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Etyang et al
- Copyright date:
- 2022
- Rights statement:
- © 2022 Etyang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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