Prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in outpatients of a large public university hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil

ABSTRACT Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is caused by SARS-Cov-2 and the manifestations of this infection range from an absence of symptoms all the way up to severe disease leading to death. To estimate the prevalence of past infection in a population, the most readily available method is the detection of antibodies against the virus. This study has investigated the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in outpatients of the Hospital das Clinicas, in Sao Paulo city (Brazil), which is a large university hospital belonging to the public health system that cares for patients with complex diseases who need tertiary or quaternary medical care. Our serological inquiry was carried out for 6 weeks, with once-a-week blood sampling and included 439 patients from several outpatient services. Overall, 61 patients tested positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG (13.9%); 56.1 % of the patients live in Sao Paulo city, with the remaining living in other towns of the metropolitan area; 32.8% of the patients testing positive for IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were asymptomatic, 55.7% developed mild or moderate disease and 11.5% had to be hospitalized. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 positive serology was lower among patients who had received the seasonal influenza vaccine compared to the ones who did not. These findings may indicate that those individuals care more about health issues, and/or that they have a better access to health care and/or a better quality of health care service. The large proportion of patients who were unaware of having had contact with SARS-CoV-2 deserves attention, reflecting the scarcity of tests performed in the population.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Oliveira,Luanda Mara da Silva, Tiyo,Bruna Tiaki, Silva,Lais Teodoro da, Fonseca,Luiz Augusto Marcondes, Rocha,Rosana Coura, Santos,Vera Aparecida dos, Ceneviva,Carina, Bedin,Anderson Aparecido, Almeida,Alexandre de, Duarte,Alberto José da Silva, Oshiro,Telma Miyuki
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo 2020
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0036-46652020000100243
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