Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34555095›Full record

ArticlePloS one2021

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence: Navigating the absence of a gold standard.

Sahar Saeed, Sheila F O'Brien, Kento Abe, Qi-Long Yi, Bhavisha Rathod, Jenny Wang, Mahya Fazel-Zarandi, Ashleigh Tuite, David Fisman, Heidi Wood and 3 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.

Sahar SaeedEpidemiology and Surveillance, Canadian Blood Services, Ottawa, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-0224-379X
Sheila F O'BrienEpidemiology and Surveillance, Canadian Blood Services, Ottawa, Canada.
Kento AbeLunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health System, Toronto, Canada.
Qi-Long YiEpidemiology and Surveillance, Canadian Blood Services, Ottawa, Canada.
Bhavisha RathodLunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health System, Toronto, Canada.
Jenny WangLunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health System, Toronto, Canada.
Mahya Fazel-ZarandiLunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health System, Toronto, Canada.
Ashleigh TuiteDalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
David FismanDalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Heidi WoodNational Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada.
Karen ColwillLunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health System, Toronto, Canada.
Anne-Claude GingrasLunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health System, Toronto, Canada.
Steven J DrewsMicrobiology Department, Canadian Blood Services, Ottawa, Canada.
Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute · CAUniversity of Toronto · CAUniversity of Ottawa · CACanadian Blood Services · CAPublic Health Agency of Canada · CAUniversity of Alberta · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence studies bridge the gap left from case detection, to estimate the true burden of the COVID-19 pandemic. While multiple anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassays are available, no gold standard exists.

methodsThis serial cross-sectional study was conducted using plasma samples from 8999 healthy blood donors between April-September 2020. Each sample was tested by four assays: Abbott SARS-Cov-2 IgG assay, targeting nucleocapsid (Abbott-NP) and three in-house IgG ELISA assays (targeting spike glycoprotein, receptor binding domain, and nucleocapsid). Seroprevalence rates were compared using multiple composite reference standards and by a series of Bayesian Latent Class Models.

resultWe found 13 unique diagnostic phenotypes; only 32 samples (0.4%) were positive by all assays. None of the individual assays resulted in seroprevalence increasing monotonically over time. In contrast, by using the results from all assays, the Bayesian Latent Class Model with informative priors predicted seroprevalence increased from 0.7% (95% credible interval (95% CrI); 0.4, 1.0%) in April/May to 0.7% (95% CrI 0.5, 1.1%) in June/July to 0.9% (95% CrI 0.5, 1.3) in August/September. Assay characteristics varied over time. Overall Spike had the highest sensitivity (93.5% (95% CrI 88.7, 97.3%), while the sensitivity of the Abbott-NP assay waned from 77.3% (95% CrI 58.7, 92.5%) in April/May to 64.4% (95% CrI 45.6, 83.0) by August/September. DISCUSSION: Our results confirmed very low seroprevalence after the first wave in Canada. Given the dynamic nature of this pandemic, Bayesian Latent Class Models can be used to correct for imperfect test characteristics and waning IgG antibody signals.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAntibodies, ViralBayes TheoremBlood DonorsCanadaCOVID-19Cross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansImmunoglobulin GMaleMiddle AgedNucleocapsidPandemicsSARS-CoV-2Antibodies, ViralImmunoglobulin GSpike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus

Identifiers

PMID34555095
PMCPMC8459951
OpenAlexW3199099752

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.