TY - JOUR
T1 - Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in four states of Nigeria in October 2020
T2 - A population-based household survey
AU - for the Nigeria SARS-CoV-2 Survey Group
AU - Audu, Rosemary A.
AU - Stafford, Kristen A.
AU - Steinhardt, Laura
AU - Musa, Zaidat A.
AU - Iriemenam, Nnaemeka
AU - Ilori, Elsie
AU - Blanco, Natalia
AU - Mitchell, Andrew
AU - Hamada, Yohhei
AU - Moloney, Mirna
AU - Iwara, Emem
AU - Abimiku, Alashle
AU - Ige, Fehintola A.
AU - William, Nwachukwu E.
AU - Igumbor, Ehimario
AU - Ochu, Chinwe
AU - Omoare, Adesuyi A.
AU - Okunoye, Olumide
AU - Greby, Stacie M.
AU - Rangaka, Molebogeng X.
AU - Copas, Andrew
AU - Dalhatu, Ibrahim
AU - Abubakar, Ibrahim
AU - McCracken, Stephen
AU - Alagi, Matthias
AU - Mba, Nwando
AU - Anthony, Ahumibe
AU - Okoye, McPaul
AU - Okoi, Catherine
AU - Ezechi, Oliver C.
AU - Salako, Babatunde L.
AU - Ihekweazu, Chikwe
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - The observed epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in sub-Saharan Africa has varied greatly from that in Europe and the United States, with much lower reported incidence. Population-based studies are needed to estimate true cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 to inform public health interventions. This study estimated SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in four selected states in Nigeria in October 2020. We implemented a two-stage cluster sample household survey in four Nigerian states (Enugu, Gombe, Lagos, and Nasarawa) to estimate age-stratified prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. All individuals in sampled households were eligible for interview, blood draw, and nasal/oropharyngeal swab collection. We additionally tested participants for current/recent malaria infection. Seroprevalence estimates were calculated accounting for the complex survey design. Across all four states, 10,629 (96.5%) of 11,015 interviewed individuals provided blood samples. The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 25.2% (95% CI 21.8–28.6) in Enugu State, 9.3% (95% CI 7.0–11.5) in Gombe State, 23.3% (95% CI 20.5–26.4) in Lagos State, and 18.0% (95% CI 14.4–21.6) in Nasarawa State. Prevalence of current/recent malaria infection ranged from 2.8% in Lagos to 45.8% in Gombe and was not significantly related to SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence. The prevalence of active SARS-CoV-2 infection in the four states during the survey period was 0.2% (95% CI 0.1–0.4). Approximately eight months after the first reported COVID-19 case in Nigeria, seroprevalence indicated infection levels 194 times higher than the 24,198 officially reported COVID-19 cases across the four states; however, most of the population remained susceptible to COVID-19 in October 2020.
AB - The observed epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in sub-Saharan Africa has varied greatly from that in Europe and the United States, with much lower reported incidence. Population-based studies are needed to estimate true cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 to inform public health interventions. This study estimated SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in four selected states in Nigeria in October 2020. We implemented a two-stage cluster sample household survey in four Nigerian states (Enugu, Gombe, Lagos, and Nasarawa) to estimate age-stratified prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. All individuals in sampled households were eligible for interview, blood draw, and nasal/oropharyngeal swab collection. We additionally tested participants for current/recent malaria infection. Seroprevalence estimates were calculated accounting for the complex survey design. Across all four states, 10,629 (96.5%) of 11,015 interviewed individuals provided blood samples. The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 25.2% (95% CI 21.8–28.6) in Enugu State, 9.3% (95% CI 7.0–11.5) in Gombe State, 23.3% (95% CI 20.5–26.4) in Lagos State, and 18.0% (95% CI 14.4–21.6) in Nasarawa State. Prevalence of current/recent malaria infection ranged from 2.8% in Lagos to 45.8% in Gombe and was not significantly related to SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence. The prevalence of active SARS-CoV-2 infection in the four states during the survey period was 0.2% (95% CI 0.1–0.4). Approximately eight months after the first reported COVID-19 case in Nigeria, seroprevalence indicated infection levels 194 times higher than the 24,198 officially reported COVID-19 cases across the four states; however, most of the population remained susceptible to COVID-19 in October 2020.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85172272809&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000363
DO - 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000363
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85172272809
SN - 2767-3375
VL - 2
JO - PLOS Global Public Health
JF - PLOS Global Public Health
IS - 6 June
M1 - e0000363
ER -
