Prevalence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2-specific Antibodies in German Blood Donors during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). While RT-PCR assays are used routinely to diagnose active COVID-19, serological testing offers a means of identifying individuals who previously experienced asymptomatic infections, as well as those who experienced symptomatic infections but no longer carry the virus. Methods: The presence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG-positive antibodies in the sera of 673 blood donors residing in southwestern Germany before and 3,880 donors after the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic was determined and confirmed using two highly sensitive serological tests. Results: Approximately 0.40% of the donors assessed during the COVID-19 pandemic possessed SARS-CoV-2 IgG-positive antibodies, decidedly fewer than the percentage of SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals determined by real-time RT-PCR nationwide. Conclusions: These findings confirm the efficacy serological testing in identifying asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Clinical Laboratory is the property of Clinical Laboratory Publications GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)