Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38824595›Full record

ArticleJournal of health, population, and nutrition2024

COVID-19 seroprevalence cohort survey among health care workers and their household members in Kinshasa, DR Congo, 2020-2022.

Joule Madinga, Placide Mbala-Kingebeni, Antoine Nkuba-Ndaye, Leonel Baketana-Kinzonzi, Elysé Matungulu-Biyala, Patrick Mutombo-Lupola, Caroline-Aurore Seghers, Tom Smekens, Kevin K Ariën, Wim Van Damme and 5 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of health, population, and nutrition, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

15 authors.

Joule MadingaDepartment of Epidemiology and Global Health, Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kikwit, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.ORCID 0000-0003-2661-234X
Placide Mbala-KingebeniDepartment of Epidemiology and Global Health, Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale & Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.ORCID 0000-0003-1556-3570
Antoine Nkuba-NdayeVirology Unit, Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.ORCID 0000-0003-2850-7498
Leonel Baketana-KinzonziVirology Unit, Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Elysé Matungulu-BiyalaVirology Unit, Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.ORCID 0000-0002-4541-5723
Patrick Mutombo-LupolaDepartment of Epidemiology and Global Health, Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Caroline-Aurore SeghersPublic Health Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-3599-1719
Tom SmekensPublic Health Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-1340-4165
Kevin K AriënVirology Unit, Institute of Tropical Medicine & Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-6344-3007
Wim Van DammePublic Health Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
Andreas KalkDeutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Bonn, Germany.
Martine PeetersUnit Trans VIHMI, University of Montpellier, IRD/INSERM, Montpellier, France.
Steve Ahuka-MundekeVirology Unit, Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale & Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Jean-Jacques Muyembe-TamfumVirology Unit, Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale & Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.ORCID 0000-0003-2933-818X
Veerle VanlerbergheEmerging Infectious Diseases Unit, Public Health Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium. vvanlerberghe@itg.be.ORCID 0000-0002-6531-0793

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionSerological surveys offer the most direct measurement to define the immunity status for numerous infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, and can provide valuable insights into understanding transmission patterns. This study describes seroprevalence changes over time in the context of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where COVID-19 case presentation was apparently largely oligo- or asymptomatic, and vaccination coverage remained extremely low.

methodsA cohort of 635 health care workers (HCW) from 5 health zones of Kinshasa and 670 of their household members was interviewed and sampled in 6 rounds between July 2020 and January 2022. At each round, information on risk exposure and a blood sample were collected. Serology was defined as positive when binding antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike and nucleocapsid proteins were simultaneously present.

resultsThe SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence was high at baseline, 17.3% (95% CI 14.4-20.6) and 7.8% (95% CI 5.5-10.8) for HCW and household members, respectively, and fluctuated over time, between 9% and 62.1%. Seropositivity was heterogeneously distributed over the health zones (p < 0.001), ranging from 12.5% (95% CI 6.6-20.8) in N'djili to 33.7% (95% CI 24.6-43.8) in Bandalungwa at baseline for HCW. Seropositivity was associated with increasing rounds adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) 1.75 (95% CI 1.66-1.85), with increasing age aOR 1.11 (95% CI 1.02-1.20), being a female aOR 1.35 (95% CI 1.10-1.66) and being a HCW aOR 2.38 (95% CI 1.80-3.14). There was no evidence that HCW brought the COVID-19 infection back home, with an aOR of 0.64 (95% CI 0.46-0.91) of seropositivity risk among household members in subsequent surveys. There was seroreversion and seroconversion over time, and HCW had a lower risk of seroreverting than household members (aOR 0.60 (95% CI 0.42-0.86)).

conclusionSARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody levels were high and dynamic over time in this African setting with low clinical case rates. The absence of association with health profession or general risk behaviors and with HCW positivity in subsequent rounds in HH members, shows the importance of the time-dependent, and not work-related, force of infection. Cohort seroprevalence estimates in a 'new disease' epidemic seem insufficient to guide policy makers for defining control strategies.

Indexed as

Antibodies, ViralCOVID-19Health PersonnelSARS-CoV-2AdolescentAdultAgedChildCohort StudiesDemocratic Republic of the CongoFamily CharacteristicsFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSeroepidemiologic StudiesAntibodies, ViralCohortCOVID-19Democratic republic of congoHealth care workerSero-survey

Identifiers

PMID38824595
PMCPMC11144309

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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.