Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in hemodialysis patients in Senegal: a multicenter cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Hemodialysis patients are among high-risk groups for COVID-19. Africa is the continent with the lowest number of cases in the general population but we have little information about the disease burden in dialysis patients. Objectives This study aimed to describe the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the hemodialysis population of Senegal. Patients and methods We conducted a multicenter cross-sectional survey, between June and September 2020 involving 10 public dialysis units randomly selected in eight regions of Senegal. After seeking their consent, we included 303 patients aged ≥ 18 years and hemodialysis for ≥ 3 months. Clinical symptoms and biological parameters were collected from medical records. Patients’ blood samples were tested with Abbott SARS-CoV-2 Ig G assay using an Architect system. Statistical tests were performed with STATA 12.0. Results Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 21.1% (95% CI = 16.7–26.1%). We noticed a wide variability in SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence between regions ranging from 5.6 to 51.7%. Among the 38 patients who underwent nasal swab testing, only six had a PCR-confirmed infection and all of them did seroconvert. Suggestive clinical symptoms were reported by 28.1% of seropositive patients and the majority of them presented asymptomatic disease. After multivariate analysis, a previous contact with a confirmed case and living in a high population density region were associated with the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Conclusion This study presents to our knowledge the first seroprevalence data in African hemodialysis patients. Compared to data from other continents, we found a higher proportion of patients with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies but a lower lethality rate.

Humoral Response and Tolerance of Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in Adults Senegalese Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis: A Multicenter Prospective Study

“…The men were predominant in our cohort as what was found in a previous study measuring COVID-19 seroprevalence among Senegalese hemodialysis patients [19]. Several studies evaluating the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine response in dialysis patients described a male predominance and its association with the vaccinal response [20] [21].…”

Serological Survey in a university community after the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Senegal

“…The first seroprevalence surveys carried out in Senegal were conducted in 2020 after the first wave and showed a lower seroprevalence of around 20%. Between June and September 2020, Seck et al found a SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence rate of 21.1% (95% CI = 16.7–26.1%) [37]. During the same period, Ahouidi et al .…”

“…Furthermore, they often experience an asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection associated with lower serum titers [49]. In Senegal, during the first wave, it was reported that seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was higher in patients older than 65 years [37].…”

Morbidity and mortality burden of COVID-19 in rural Madagascar: results from a longitudinal cohort and nested seroprevalence study

“…However, high quality, representative studies in Africa continue to be rare. Studies tend to rely on opportunistic data collection, such as from blood donors [14][15][16][17][18][19], healthcare workers [20][21][22][23][24][25], or patients coming to health facilities for reasons other than COVID-19 [26][27][28][29][30][31], none of which are demographically representative of the general population. In addition, where population-representative seroprevalence studies do exist, they tend to be conducted in national capitals or large cities, and the majority have a moderate to high risk of bias (e.g.…”