SynthesisPloS one2021
Comparison of seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections with cumulative and imputed COVID-19 cases: Systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Global SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence from January 2020 to April 2022: A systematic review and meta-analysis of standardized population-based studies.PLoS medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Update on SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence: regional and worldwide.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- [Guideline S1: Long COVID: Diagnostics and treatment strategies].Wiener klinische Wochenschrift · 2021Guideline
- Global seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- How Many Veteran COVID-19 Cases Were There during the Pandemic?Journal of medical virology · 2026Article
- The association between depressive symptoms and antibody response following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination among central North Carolina residents.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Comparison of Infection-Induced SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence Across Large-Scale Residual Samples From Blood Donors, Commercial Laboratories, and Health Checkups in Japan, 2023.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- The role of evidence-based medicine in the media: misinformation and the COVID-19 lesson.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2025Article
- The Second Round of a Population-Based Seroprevalence Study of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies and COVID-19 Vaccination Assessment in the Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2025Article
- School mask policies and SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among school-age children-United States, September to December 2021.Microbiology spectrum · 2024Article
- Underreporting of Cases in the COVID-19 Outbreak of Borriana (Spain) during Mass Gathering Events in March 2020: A Cross-Sectional Study.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence and Vaccine Uptake among Pregnant Women at First Antenatal Care Visits in Malawi.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Enhancing detection of SARS-CoV-2 re-infections using longitudinal sero-monitoring: demonstration of a methodology in a cohort of people experiencing homelessness in Toronto, Canada.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Article
- High immunity and low mortality after Omicron and mass event in Cameroon despite low vaccination.Journal of public health in Africa · 2024Article
- Impact of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines on Covid-19 incidence and mortality in the United States.PloS one · 2024Article
- Observational
- Serological screening in a large-scale municipal survey in Cascais, Portugal, during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for future pandemic preparedness efforts.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAccurate seroprevalence estimates of SARS-CoV-2 in different populations could clarify the extent to which current testing strategies are identifying all active infection, and hence the true magnitude and spread of the infection. Our primary objective was to identify valid seroprevalence studies of SARS-CoV-2 infection and compare their estimates with the reported, and imputed, COVID-19 case rates within the same population at the same time point.
methodsWe searched PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane COVID-19 trials, and Europe-PMC for published studies and pre-prints that reported anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG, IgM and/or IgA antibodies for serosurveys of the general community from 1 Jan to 12 Aug 2020.
resultsOf the 2199 studies identified, 170 were assessed for full text and 17 studies representing 15 regions and 118,297 subjects were includable. The seroprevalence proportions in 8 studies ranged between 1%-10%, with 5 studies under 1%, and 4 over 10%-from the notably hard-hit regions of Gangelt, Germany; Northwest Iran; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Stockholm, Sweden. For seropositive cases who were not previously identified as COVID-19 cases, the majority had prior COVID-like symptoms. The estimated seroprevalences ranged from 0.56-717 times greater than the number of reported cumulative cases-half of the studies reported greater than 10 times more SARS-CoV-2 infections than the cumulative number of cases.
conclusionsThe findings show SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence is well below "herd immunity" in all countries studied. The estimated number of infections, however, were much greater than the number of reported cases and deaths in almost all locations. The majority of seropositive people reported prior COVID-like symptoms, suggesting that undertesting of symptomatic people may be causing a substantial under-ascertainment of SARS-CoV-2 infections.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.