SARS-CoV-2 exposure in Malawian blood donors: an analysis of seroprevalence and variant dynamics between January 2020 and July 2021.

ABSTRACT:

Background

By August 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has been less severe in sub-Saharan Africa than elsewhere. In Malawi, there have been three subsequent epidemic waves. We therefore aimed to describe the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in Malawi.

Methods

We measured the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies amongst randomly selected blood transfusion donor sera in Malawi from January 2020 to July 2021 using a cross-sectional study design. In a subset, we also assessed in vitro neutralisation against the original variant (D614G WT) and the Beta variant.

Results

A total of 5085 samples were selected from the blood donor database, of which 4075 (80.1%) were aged 20-49 years. Of the total, 1401 were seropositive. After adjustment for assay characteristics and applyi

SUBMITTER: Mandolo J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8601780 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature