Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among Blood Donors and Changes after Introduction of Public Health and Social Measures, London, UK.
Amirthalingam, Gayatri;
Whitaker, Heather;
Brooks, Tim;
Brown, Kevin;
Hoschler, Katja;
Linley, Ezra;
Borrow, Ray;
Brown, Colin;
Watkins, Nick;
Roberts, David J;
+5 more...Solomon, Danielle;
Gower, Charlotte M;
de Waroux, Olivier le Polain;
Andrews, Nick J;
Ramsay, Mary E;
(2021)
Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among Blood Donors and Changes after Introduction of Public Health and Social Measures, London, UK.
Emerging infectious diseases, 27 (7).
pp. 1795-1801.
ISSN 1080-6040
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2707.203167
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We describe results of testing blood donors in London, UK, for severe acute respiratory disease coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) IgG before and after lockdown measures. Anonymized samples from donors 17-69 years of age were tested using 3 assays: Euroimmun IgG, Abbott IgG, and an immunoglobulin receptor-binding domain assay developed by Public Health England. Seroprevalence increased from 3.0% prelockdown (week 13, beginning March 23, 2020) to 10.4% during lockdown (weeks 15-16) and 12.3% postlockdown (week 18) by the Abbott assay. Estimates were 2.9% prelockdown, 9.9% during lockdown, and 13.0% postlockdown by the Euroimmun assay and 3.5% prelockdown, 11.8% during lockdown, and 14.1% postlockdown by the receptor-binding domain assay. By early May 2020, nearly 1 in 7 donors had evidence of past SARS-CoV-2 infection. Combining results from the Abbott and Euroimmun assays increased seroprevalence by 1.6%, 2.3%, and 0.6% at the 3 timepoints compared with Euroimmun alone, demonstrating the value of using multiple assays.
