Sociodemographic disparities in COVID-19 seroprevalence across England in the Oxford RCGP primary care sentinel network

Heather Whitaker; Ruby S.M. Tsang; Elizabeth Button; Nick Andrews; Rachel Byford; Ray Borrow; F. D.Richard Hobbs; Tim Brooks; Gary Howsam; Kevin Brown; Jack Macartney; Charlotte Gower; Cecilia Okusi; Jacqueline Hewson; Julian Sherlock; Ezra Linley; Manasa Tripathy; Ashley D. Otter; John Williams; Simon Tonge; Simon de Lusignan; Gayatri Amirthalingam

doi:10.1016/j.jinf.2022.04.016

Sociodemographic disparities in COVID-19 seroprevalence across England in the Oxford RCGP primary care sentinel network

Heather Whitaker^*
, Ruby S.M. Tsang
, Elizabeth Button
, Nick Andrews
, Rachel Byford
, Ray Borrow
, F. D.Richard Hobbs
, Tim Brooks
, Gary Howsam
, Kevin Brown
, Jack Macartney
, Charlotte Gower
, Cecilia Okusi
, Jacqueline Hewson
, Julian Sherlock
, Ezra Linley
, Manasa Tripathy
, Ashley D. Otter
, John Williams
, Simon Tonge

Simon de Lusignan, Gayatri Amirthalingam

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: To monitor changes in seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in populations over time and between different demographic groups.

Methods: A subset of practices in the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) sentinel network provided serum samples, collected when volunteer patients had routine blood tests. We tested these samples for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using Abbott (Chicago, USA), Roche (Basel, Switzerland) and/or Euroimmun (Luebeck, Germany) assays, and linked the results to the patients’ primary care computerised medical records. We report seropositivity by region and age group, and additionally examined the effects of gender, ethnicity, deprivation, rurality, shielding recommendation and smoking status.

Results: We estimated seropositivity from patients aged 18-100 years old, which ranged from 4.1% (95% CI 3.1–5.3%) to 8.9% (95% CI 7.8–10.2%) across the different assays and time periods. We found higher Euroimmun seropositivity in younger age groups, people of Black and Asian ethnicity (compared to white), major conurbations, and non-smokers. We did not observe any significant effect by region, gender, deprivation, or shielding recommendation.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that prior to the vaccination programme, most of the population remained unexposed to SARS-CoV-2.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	814-824
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Infection
Volume	84
Issue number	6
Early online date	9 Apr 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2022.04.016
Publication status	Published - Jun 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: Public Health England.

EL, ST, RB report the Public Health England Vaccine Evaluation Unit performs contract research on behalf of GSK, Sanofi and Pfizer which is outside the submitted work.

Prof Lusignan reports and through his University he has had grants not directly relating to this work from AstraZeneca, GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi, Seqirus and Takeda for vaccine related research and membership of advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Seqirus.

Open Access: Free to read, but no Open Access licence.

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The British Infection Association.

Citation: Heather Whitaker, Ruby S.M. Tsang, Elizabeth Button, Nick Andrews, Rachel Byford, Ray Borrow, F.D. Richard Hobbs, Tim Brooks, Gary Howsam, Kevin Brown, Jack Macartney, Charlotte Gower, Cecilia Okusi, Jacqueline Hewson, Julian Sherlock, Ezra Linley, Manasa Tripathy, Ashley D. Otter, John Williams, Simon Tonge, Simon de Lusignan, Gayatri Amirthalingam, Sociodemographic disparities in COVID-19 seroprevalence across England in the Oxford RCGP primary care sentinel network, Journal of Infection, Volume 84, Issue 6, 2022, Pages 814-824,
ISSN 0163-4453

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2022.04.016.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2
Serology
Survey
demographics
primary care
seroprevalence

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jinf.2022.04.016

Cite this

Whitaker, H., Tsang, R. S. M., Button, E., Andrews, N., Byford, R., Borrow, R., Hobbs, F. D. R., Brooks, T., Howsam, G., Brown, K., Macartney, J., Gower, C., Okusi, C., Hewson, J., Sherlock, J., Linley, E., Tripathy, M., Otter, A. D., Williams, J., ... Amirthalingam, G. (2022). Sociodemographic disparities in COVID-19 seroprevalence across England in the Oxford RCGP primary care sentinel network. Journal of Infection, 84(6), 814-824. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2022.04.016

@article{96b4aa2f34224651bbfd297f9fb6399d,

title = "Sociodemographic disparities in COVID-19 seroprevalence across England in the Oxford RCGP primary care sentinel network",

abstract = "Objectives: To monitor changes in seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in populations over time and between different demographic groups. Methods: A subset of practices in the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) sentinel network provided serum samples, collected when volunteer patients had routine blood tests. We tested these samples for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using Abbott (Chicago, USA), Roche (Basel, Switzerland) and/or Euroimmun (Luebeck, Germany) assays, and linked the results to the patients{\textquoteright} primary care computerised medical records. We report seropositivity by region and age group, and additionally examined the effects of gender, ethnicity, deprivation, rurality, shielding recommendation and smoking status. Results: We estimated seropositivity from patients aged 18-100 years old, which ranged from 4.1\% (95\% CI 3.1–5.3\%) to 8.9\% (95\% CI 7.8–10.2\%) across the different assays and time periods. We found higher Euroimmun seropositivity in younger age groups, people of Black and Asian ethnicity (compared to white), major conurbations, and non-smokers. We did not observe any significant effect by region, gender, deprivation, or shielding recommendation. Conclusions: Our results suggest that prior to the vaccination programme, most of the population remained unexposed to SARS-CoV-2.",

keywords = "COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Serology, Survey, demographics, primary care, seroprevalence",

author = "Heather Whitaker and Tsang, \{Ruby S.M.\} and Elizabeth Button and Nick Andrews and Rachel Byford and Ray Borrow and Hobbs, \{F. D.Richard\} and Tim Brooks and Gary Howsam and Kevin Brown and Jack Macartney and Charlotte Gower and Cecilia Okusi and Jacqueline Hewson and Julian Sherlock and Ezra Linley and Manasa Tripathy and Otter, \{Ashley D.\} and John Williams and Simon Tonge and \{de Lusignan\}, Simon and Gayatri Amirthalingam",

note = "Funding Information: Public Health England. EL, ST, RB report the Public Health England Vaccine Evaluation Unit performs contract research on behalf of GSK, Sanofi and Pfizer which is outside the submitted work. Prof Lusignan reports and through his University he has had grants not directly relating to this work from AstraZeneca, GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi, Seqirus and Takeda for vaccine related research and membership of advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Seqirus. Open Access: Free to read, but no Open Access licence. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The British Infection Association. Citation: Heather Whitaker, Ruby S.M. Tsang, Elizabeth Button, Nick Andrews, Rachel Byford, Ray Borrow, F.D. Richard Hobbs, Tim Brooks, Gary Howsam, Kevin Brown, Jack Macartney, Charlotte Gower, Cecilia Okusi, Jacqueline Hewson, Julian Sherlock, Ezra Linley, Manasa Tripathy, Ashley D. Otter, John Williams, Simon Tonge, Simon de Lusignan, Gayatri Amirthalingam, Sociodemographic disparities in COVID-19 seroprevalence across England in the Oxford RCGP primary care sentinel network, Journal of Infection, Volume 84, Issue 6, 2022, Pages 814-824, ISSN 0163-4453 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2022.04.016.",

year = "2022",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1016/j.jinf.2022.04.016",

language = "English",

volume = "84",

pages = "814--824",

journal = "Journal of Infection",

issn = "0163-4453",

publisher = "W.B. Saunders Ltd",

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}

Whitaker, H, Tsang, RSM, Button, E, Andrews, N, Byford, R, Borrow, R, Hobbs, FDR, Brooks, T, Howsam, G, Brown, K, Macartney, J, Gower, C, Okusi, C, Hewson, J, Sherlock, J, Linley, E, Tripathy, M, Otter, AD, Williams, J, Tonge, S, de Lusignan, S & Amirthalingam, G 2022, 'Sociodemographic disparities in COVID-19 seroprevalence across England in the Oxford RCGP primary care sentinel network', Journal of Infection, vol. 84, no. 6, pp. 814-824. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2022.04.016

TY - JOUR

T1 - Sociodemographic disparities in COVID-19 seroprevalence across England in the Oxford RCGP primary care sentinel network

AU - Whitaker, Heather

AU - Tsang, Ruby S.M.

AU - Button, Elizabeth

AU - Andrews, Nick

AU - Byford, Rachel

AU - Borrow, Ray

AU - Hobbs, F. D.Richard

AU - Brooks, Tim

AU - Howsam, Gary

AU - Brown, Kevin

AU - Macartney, Jack

AU - Gower, Charlotte

AU - Okusi, Cecilia

AU - Hewson, Jacqueline

AU - Sherlock, Julian

AU - Linley, Ezra

AU - Tripathy, Manasa

AU - Otter, Ashley D.

AU - Williams, John

AU - Tonge, Simon

AU - de Lusignan, Simon

AU - Amirthalingam, Gayatri

N1 - Funding Information: Public Health England. EL, ST, RB report the Public Health England Vaccine Evaluation Unit performs contract research on behalf of GSK, Sanofi and Pfizer which is outside the submitted work. Prof Lusignan reports and through his University he has had grants not directly relating to this work from AstraZeneca, GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi, Seqirus and Takeda for vaccine related research and membership of advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Seqirus. Open Access: Free to read, but no Open Access licence. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The British Infection Association. Citation: Heather Whitaker, Ruby S.M. Tsang, Elizabeth Button, Nick Andrews, Rachel Byford, Ray Borrow, F.D. Richard Hobbs, Tim Brooks, Gary Howsam, Kevin Brown, Jack Macartney, Charlotte Gower, Cecilia Okusi, Jacqueline Hewson, Julian Sherlock, Ezra Linley, Manasa Tripathy, Ashley D. Otter, John Williams, Simon Tonge, Simon de Lusignan, Gayatri Amirthalingam, Sociodemographic disparities in COVID-19 seroprevalence across England in the Oxford RCGP primary care sentinel network, Journal of Infection, Volume 84, Issue 6, 2022, Pages 814-824, ISSN 0163-4453 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2022.04.016.

PY - 2022/6

Y1 - 2022/6

N2 - Objectives: To monitor changes in seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in populations over time and between different demographic groups. Methods: A subset of practices in the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) sentinel network provided serum samples, collected when volunteer patients had routine blood tests. We tested these samples for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using Abbott (Chicago, USA), Roche (Basel, Switzerland) and/or Euroimmun (Luebeck, Germany) assays, and linked the results to the patients’ primary care computerised medical records. We report seropositivity by region and age group, and additionally examined the effects of gender, ethnicity, deprivation, rurality, shielding recommendation and smoking status. Results: We estimated seropositivity from patients aged 18-100 years old, which ranged from 4.1% (95% CI 3.1–5.3%) to 8.9% (95% CI 7.8–10.2%) across the different assays and time periods. We found higher Euroimmun seropositivity in younger age groups, people of Black and Asian ethnicity (compared to white), major conurbations, and non-smokers. We did not observe any significant effect by region, gender, deprivation, or shielding recommendation. Conclusions: Our results suggest that prior to the vaccination programme, most of the population remained unexposed to SARS-CoV-2.

AB - Objectives: To monitor changes in seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in populations over time and between different demographic groups. Methods: A subset of practices in the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) sentinel network provided serum samples, collected when volunteer patients had routine blood tests. We tested these samples for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using Abbott (Chicago, USA), Roche (Basel, Switzerland) and/or Euroimmun (Luebeck, Germany) assays, and linked the results to the patients’ primary care computerised medical records. We report seropositivity by region and age group, and additionally examined the effects of gender, ethnicity, deprivation, rurality, shielding recommendation and smoking status. Results: We estimated seropositivity from patients aged 18-100 years old, which ranged from 4.1% (95% CI 3.1–5.3%) to 8.9% (95% CI 7.8–10.2%) across the different assays and time periods. We found higher Euroimmun seropositivity in younger age groups, people of Black and Asian ethnicity (compared to white), major conurbations, and non-smokers. We did not observe any significant effect by region, gender, deprivation, or shielding recommendation. Conclusions: Our results suggest that prior to the vaccination programme, most of the population remained unexposed to SARS-CoV-2.

KW - COVID-19

KW - SARS-CoV-2

KW - Serology

KW - Survey

KW - demographics

KW - primary care

KW - seroprevalence

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85130054963

U2 - 10.1016/j.jinf.2022.04.016

DO - 10.1016/j.jinf.2022.04.016

M3 - Article

C2 - 35405169

AN - SCOPUS:85130054963

SN - 0163-4453

VL - 84

SP - 814

EP - 824

JO - Journal of Infection

JF - Journal of Infection

IS - 6

ER -

Sociodemographic disparities in COVID-19 seroprevalence across England in the Oxford RCGP primary care sentinel network

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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