Repeated leftover serosurvey of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies, Greece, March and April 2020

Zacharoula Bogogiannidou; Alexandros Vontas; Katerina Dadouli; Maria A Kyritsi; Soteris Soteriades; Dimitrios J Nikoulis; Varvara Α Mouchtouri; Michalis Koureas; Evangelos I Kazakos; Emmanouil G Spanos; Georgia Gioula; Evangelia E Ntzani; Alexandros A Eleftheriou; Alkiviadis Vatopoulos; Efthimia Petinaki; Vassiliki Papaevangelou; Matthaios Speletas; Sotirios Tsiodras; Christos Hadjichristodoulou

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.31.2001369

Repeated leftover serosurvey of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies, Greece, March and April 2020

Euro Surveill. 2020 Aug;25(31):2001369. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.31.2001369.

Authors

Zacharoula Bogogiannidou¹, Alexandros Vontas¹, Katerina Dadouli¹, Maria A Kyritsi¹, Soteris Soteriades¹, Dimitrios J Nikoulis¹, Varvara Α Mouchtouri¹, Michalis Koureas¹, Evangelos I Kazakos², Emmanouil G Spanos¹, Georgia Gioula³, Evangelia E Ntzani^{4

5

6}, Alexandros A Eleftheriou⁴, Alkiviadis Vatopoulos⁷, Efthimia Petinaki⁸, Vassiliki Papaevangelou⁹, Matthaios Speletas¹⁰, Sotirios Tsiodras¹¹, Christos Hadjichristodoulou¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
² Faculty of Midwifery, School of Health Sciences, University of Western Macedonia, Kozani, Greece.
³ National Influenza Reference Laboratory for Northern Greece, Microbiology Department, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
⁴ Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina Faculty of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece.
⁵ Center for Evidence Synthesis in Health, Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice, School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, United States.
⁶ Institute of Biosciences, University Research Center of loannina, Ioannina, Greece.
⁷ Department of Public Health Policy, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece.
⁸ Department of Microbiology, University Hospital of Larissa, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
⁹ Third Department of Paediatrics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Attikon University Hospital, Athens, Greece.
¹⁰ Department of Immunology and Histocompatibility, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
¹¹ Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Attikon University Hospital, Athens, Greece.

PMID: 32762796
PMCID: PMC7459271
DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.31.2001369

Abstract

A serosurvey of IgG antibodies against severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was performed during March and April 2020. Among 6,586 leftover sera, 24 (0.36%) were positive, with higher prevalence in females, older individuals and residents of large urban areas. Seroprevalence was estimated at 0.02% and 0.25%, respectively, in March and April, infection fatality rate at 2.66% and 0.54%. Our findings confirm low COVID-19 incidence in Greece and possibly the effectiveness of early measures.

Keywords: COVID-19; Greece; SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies; serosurvey.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Age Distribution
Aged
Antibodies, Viral / blood
Betacoronavirus
COVID-19
Child
Child, Preschool
Coronavirus / immunology*
Coronavirus / isolation & purification
Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
Coronavirus Infections / virology
Female
Greece / epidemiology
Humans
Immunoglobulin G / blood*
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Middle Aged
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
Pneumonia, Viral / virology
Prevalence
SARS-CoV-2
Seroepidemiologic Studies
Sex Distribution
Young Adult

Substances

Antibodies, Viral
Immunoglobulin G