Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among adults in three regions of France following the lockdown and associated risk factors: a multicohort study.

F. Carrat, X. de Lamballerie, D. Rahib, H. Blanché, N. Lapidus, F. Artaud, S. Kab, Adeline Renuy, Fabien Szabo de Edelenyi, Laurence Meyer, N. Lydié, M. Charles, P. Ancel, F. Jusot, A. Rouquette, S. Priet, P. M. Saba Villarroel, T. Fourié, C. Lusivika-Nzinga, J. Nicol, Stephane Legot, N. Druesne-Pecollo, Y. Esseddik, Cindy Lai, Jean-Marie Gagliolo, J. Deleuze, N. Bajos, G. Severi, M. Touvier, M. Zins

medRxiv, 2020

Aim To estimate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in May-June 2020 after the lockdown in adults living in three regions in France and to identify the associated risk factors. Methods Participants in a survey on COVID-19 from an existing consortium of three general adult population cohorts living in the Ile-de-France (IDF) or Grand Est (GE), two regions with high rate of COVID-19, or in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine (NA), with a low rate, were asked to take a dried-blood spot (DBS) for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies assessment. The primary outcome was a positive anti-SARS-CoV-2 ELISA IgG result against the spike protein of the virus (ELISA-S). The secondary outcomes were a positive ELISA IgG against the nucleocapsid protein (ELISA-NP), anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies titers >=40 (SN), and predicted positivity obtained from a multiple imputation model (MI). Prevalence estimates were adjusted using sampling weights and post-stratification methods. Findings Between May 4, 2020 and June 23, 2020, 16,000 participants were asked to provide DBS, and 14,628 were included in the analysis, 983 with a positive ELISA-S, 511 with a positive ELISA-NP, 424 with SN>=40 and 941 (Standard Deviation=31) with a positive MI. Adjusted estimates of seroprevalence (positive ELISA-S) were 10.0% (95%CI 9.1%;10.9%) in IDF, 9.0% (95%CI 7.7%; 10.2%) in GE and 3.1% (95%CI 2.4%; 3.7%), in NA. The adjusted prevalence of positive ELISA-NP, SN and MI were 5.7%, 5.0% and 10.0% in IDF, 6.0%, 4.3% and 8.6% in GE, and 0.6%, 1.3% and 2.5% in NA, respectively. A higher seroprevalence was observed in younger participants and when at least one child or adolescent lived in the same household. A lower seroprevalence was observed in smokers compared to non-smokers. Interpretation At the end of the lockdown the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG or neutralizing antibodies remained low in the French adult population, even in regions with high reported rates of COVID-19.

Cited by 57 publications.

Field of study: Medicine

10.1101/2020.09.16.20195693