Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Palestine: a cross-sectional seroepidemiological study

Qutob, Nouar; Awartani, Faisal; Salah, Zaidoun; Asia, Mohammad; Khader, A. M.; Herzallah, Khaled; Balqis, Nadeen; Sallam, Husam

doi:10.1101/2020.08.28.20180083

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(24 reference statements)

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“…The same proportion of studies validated their methods internally to report accuracy 16,21,23,24,30,32,34–39,45,50,52 or used sensitivity and specificity given by manufacturers or other external studies 18–20,22,36,40–42,44–51 . We also noticed that it is quite unclear if the field teams followed standardized protocols for the data collection and testing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population‐based prevalence surveys during the Covid‐19 pandemic: A systematic review

Franceschi

Santos

Glaeser

et al. 2020

Reviews in Medical Virology

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Summary Population‐based prevalence surveys of Covid‐19 contribute to establish the burden of infection, the role of asymptomatic and mild infections in transmission, and allow more precise decisions about reopen policies. We performed a systematic review to evaluate qualitative aspects of these studies, assessing their reliability and compiling practices that can influence the methodological quality. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, bioRxiv and medRxiv, and included cross‐sectional studies using molecular and/or serological tests to estimate the prevalence of Covid‐19 in the general population. Survey quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Prevalence Studies. A correspondence analysis correlated methodological parameters of each study to identify patterns related to higher, intermediate and lower risks of bias. The available data described 37 surveys from 19 countries. The majority were from Europe and America, used antibody testing, and reached highly heterogeneous sample sizes and prevalence estimates. Minority communities were disproportionately affected by Covid‐19. Important risk of bias was detected in four domains: sample size, data analysis with sufficient coverage, measurements in standard way and response rate. The correspondence analysis showed few consistent patterns for high risk of bias. Intermediate risk of bias was related to American and European studies, municipal and regional initiatives, blood samples and prevalence >1%. Low risk of bias was related to Asian studies, nationwide initiatives, reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction tests and prevalence <1%. We identified methodological standards applied worldwide in Covid‐19 prevalence surveys, which may assist researchers with the planning, execution and reporting of future population‐based surveys.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population‐based prevalence surveys during the Covid‐19 pandemic: A systematic review

Franceschi

Santos

Glaeser

et al. 2020

Reviews in Medical Virology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The same proportion of studies validated their methods internally to report accuracy ( 16,21,23,24,30,32,34-39,45,50,52 ) or used sensitivity and specificity given by manufacturers or other external studies ( 18-20,22,36,40-42,44-51 ). We also noticed that it is quite unclear if the field teams followed standardized protocols for the data collection and testing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population-based prevalence surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review

Franceschi

Santos

Glaeser

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Population-based prevalence surveys of COVID-19 contribute to establish the burden and epidemiology of infection, the role of asymptomatic and mild infections in transmission, and allow more precise decisions about reopen policies. We performed a systematic review to evaluate qualitative aspects of these studies, their reliability, and biases. The available data described 37 surveys from 19 countries, mostly from Europe and America and using antibody testing. They reached highly heterogeneous sample sizes and prevalence estimates. Disproportional prevalence was observed in minority communities. Important risk of bias was detected in four domains: sample size, data analysis with sufficient coverage, measurements in standard way, and response rate. The correspondence analysis showed few consistent patterns for high risk of bias. Intermediate risk of bias was related to American and European studies, blood samples and prevalence >1%. Low risk of bias was related to Asian studies, RT-PCR tests and prevalence <1%.

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“…On May 25 th , the restrictions were eased following a decline in cases and a reduction of the rate of positive tests in Palestinian workers returning from Israeli areas. Seroprevalence, as measured up to July 2020 remains low [6]. However, cases surged again during July.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 among Palestinians during the COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-sectional survey

Qutob

Awartani

2021

PLoS ONE

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious illness that spreads rapidly through human-to-human transmission. On March 5, the government of Palestine declared a state of emergency in order to curb the spread of the virus, a declaration that it extended for a fifth time on July 5th. The degree to which a population complies with corresponding safety measures is surely affected by the people’s knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards the disease. To explore this hypothesis, we gathered data from 1,731 Palestinians between April 19thand May 1st, 2020 through a KAP questionnaire. The participant pool represented a stratified sample of Palestinians living across a number of governorates in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with 36.5% from Gaza and (63.5%) from the West Bank. Gender was almost equally distributed within the sample with (51%) men respondents and (49%) women respondent. The questionnaire included 17 questions about participants’ knowledge and awareness of COVID–19, 17 questions regarding the safety measures they had taken in the wake of the outbreak and 3 questions asking them to assess the efficacy of the government’s response to the pandemic. Our data shows that 79% of the respondents have good awareness about transmission of the virus, 55.6% were knowledgeable of the symptoms exhibited by an infected individual, 81% were aware of the preventative measures and 82% demonstrated awareness of the risk groups. Most participants complied with preventative measures (77%) and 62% the study participants agreed that stricter measures have to be enforced by the government to limit the spread of the virus. Our study revealed that younger participants and people with higher educational level demonstrated more awareness of the virus. Also, Women were reported to be more aware of preventative measures and to have complied more with good practices. We report that residents of the West Bank have complied more with the right practices when compared to residents of Gaza. Based on the results of this study, we conclude that health education programs aimed at improving the public’s understanding of COVID-19 are important in helping the population maintain appropriate practices and should be target people with lower educational level, and that findings such as those discussed in this report may provide valuable feedback to lawmakers working to stop the spread of the virus.

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Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Palestine: a cross-sectional seroepidemiological study

Cited by 7 publications

References 15 publications

Population‐based prevalence surveys during the Covid‐19 pandemic: A systematic review

Population‐based prevalence surveys during the Covid‐19 pandemic: A systematic review

Population-based prevalence surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review

Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 among Palestinians during the COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-sectional survey

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