Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Rhode Island From a Statewide Random Sample

Abstract

Objectives. To characterize statewide seroprevalence and point prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Rhode Island. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of randomly selected households across Rhode Island in May 2020. Antibody-based and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–based tests for SARS-CoV-2 were offered. Hispanics/Latinos and African Americans/Blacks were oversampled to ensure adequate representation. Seroprevalence estimations accounted for test sensitivity and specificity and were compared according to age, race/ethnicity, gender, housing environment, and transportation mode. Results. Overall, 1043 individuals from 554 households were tested (1032 antibody tests, 988 PCR tests). The estimated seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 2.1% (95% credible interval [CI] = 0.6, 4.1). Seroprevalence was 7.5% (95% CI = 1.3, 17.5) among Hispanics/Latinos, 3.8% (95% CI = 0.0, 15.0) among African Americans/Blacks, and 0.8% (95% CI = 0.0, 2.4) among non-Hispanic Whites. Overall PCR-based prevalence was 1.5% (95% CI = 0.5, 3.1). Conclusions. Rhode Island had low seroprevalence relative to other settings, but seroprevalence was substantially higher among African Americans/Blacks and Hispanics/Latinos. Rhode Island sits along the highly populated northeast corridor, making our findings broadly relevant to this region of the country. Continued monitoring via population-based sampling is needed to quantify these impacts going forward. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print February 18, 2021: e1–e4. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306115 )

SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence among First Responders in Northeastern Ohio

“…Our results also showed a trend of high seroprevalence among Black-American participants [10][11][12] . The self-reported exposure at work and community were much lower than Caucasian counterparts.…”

Modeling the impact of racial and ethnic disparities on COVID-19 epidemic dynamics

“…We have shown that due to early infections in individuals from the most at-risk group, relative measures of incidence may decline and even reverse, but inequities in the cumulative burden of infection persist throughout the epidemic as the HIT is reached. These results describe a framework that can be extended to other cities and countries in which racial and ethnic disparities in seropositivity have been observed ( Hallal et al, 2020 ; Flannery et al, 2020 ; Chan et al, 2021 ) and are a step towards using transmission models to design policy interventions for reducing disparities in COVID-19 and other diseases.…”

Variation in COVID-19 Mortality in the US by Race and Ethnicity and Educational Attainment

“…14 , 15 With regard to COVID-19 specifically, census data show all racial and ethnic groups other than non-Hispanic White individuals are more likely to have risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 exposure (household crowding, multigenerational housing, and potential occupational and paraoccupational exposure owing to employment in high-risk jobs or cohabitation with such workers) than non-Hispanic White individuals of the same educational attainment category (eFigure in the Supplement ). Prior research suggests that racial and ethnic minority populations have been infected with COVID-19 at far higher rates than non-Hispanic White individuals, 16 , 17 , 18 and that inequities in COVID-19 mortality rates may in large part be associated with these differences in exposure to the virus. 19 Although there has been a small number of studies exploring the degree to which racial and ethnic differences in COVID-19 outcomes may be associated with differences in population genetics, the evidence for this has so far been very limited.…”