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Quantitative SARS-CoV-2 antibody screening of healthcare workers in the southern part of
Kyoto city during the COVID-19 peri-pandemic period
*Kohei Fujita
1,5
, *Shinpei Kada
2,5
, Osamu Kanai
1,5
, Hiroaki Hata
3,5
, Takao Odagaki
4,5
, Noriko
Satoh-Asahara
6,7
, Tetsuya Tagami
6,7
, Akihiro Yasoda
6,7
1
Division of Respiratory Medicine, Center for Respiratory Diseases, National Hospital Organization
Kyoto Medical Center, Kyoto, Japan
2
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, National Hospital Organization Kyoto
Medical Center, Kyoto, Japan
3
Department of Surgery, National Hospital Organization Kyoto Medical Center, Kyoto, Japan
4
Department of General Medicine, National Hospital Organization Kyoto Medical Center, Kyoto,
Japan
5
Department of Infectious Diseases, National Hospital Organization Kyoto Medical Center, Kyoto,
Japan
6
Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, National Hospital Organization Kyoto Medical
Center, Kyoto, Japan
. CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a
is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)
The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted May 20, 2020. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.12.20098962doi: medRxiv preprint
NOTE: This preprint reports new research that has not been certified by peer review and should not be used to guide clinical practice.
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7
Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Hypertension Research, Clinical Research Institute,
National Hospital Organization Kyoto Medical Center, Kyoto, Japan
*These authors contributed equally to this work.
Corresponding author
Kohei Fujita, MD, PhD.
Division of Respiratory Medicine, Center for Respiratory Diseases, National Hospital Organization
Kyoto Medical Center
1-1, Fukakusa-Mukaihata, Fushimi-Ku, Kyoto, Japan
Postal code: 612-8555
E-mail: kfujita-oka@umin.ac.jp
TEL: +81-75-641-9161
Key words: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, antibodies, seroprevalence, healthcare workers
Running title: SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence
. CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a
is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)
The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted May 20, 2020. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.12.20098962doi: medRxiv preprint
3
Abstract
Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is associated with a heavy
burden on the mental and physical health of patients, regional healthcare resources, and global
economic activity. While our understanding of the incidence and case-fatality rates increases, data on
seroprevalence of antibodies against the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2
(SARS-CoV-2) in healthcare workers during the peri-pandemic period is insufficient. This study
quantitatively evaluated seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody in healthcare workers in the
southern part of Kyoto city, Japan.
Methods: We prospectively recruited healthcare workers from a single hospital between April 10
and April 20, 2020. We collected serum samples from these participants and quantitatively evaluated
SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: Five (5.4%), 15 (16.3%), and 72 (78.3%) participants showed positive, borderline, and
negative serum SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody status, respectively. We found the mean titer associated
with each antibody status (overall, positive, borderline, and negative) was clearly differentiated.
Participants working at the otolaryngology department and/or having a history of seasonal common
cold symptoms had a significantly higher titer of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody (p=0.046, p=0.046,
respectively).
. CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a
is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)
The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted May 20, 2020. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.12.20098962doi: medRxiv preprint
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Conclusions: Five (5.4%) and 15 (16.3%) participants tested positive and borderline, respectively,
for SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody during the COVID-19 peri-pandemic period. These rates were higher
than expected based on government situation reports. The present findings suggest that COVID-19
was already spread in the southern part of Kyoto city at the early stage of pandemic.
. CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a
is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)
The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted May 20, 2020. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.12.20098962doi: medRxiv preprint
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Introduction
Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019;
the outbreak was subsequently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on
March 11, 2020 (1). The disease course varies from mild and self-limiting upper respiratory infection
symptoms to severe respiratory failure, which might require respiratory support (2, 3). By
mid-March 2020, the centers of pandemic had been located in China, the United States, and several
European countries. In Japan, the government announced a state of emergency on April 4, 2020. As
of the end of April 2020, over 200,000 people worldwide have died of COVID-19 (1, 4). COVID-19
is associated with a heavy burden on mental and physical health of patients, regional healthcare
resources, and global economic activity. Effective policies to deal with the pandemic are required
and they should be founded on reliable epidemiological data. The diagnosis of COVID-19 is based
on viral nucleic acid detection using reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay
for SARS-CoV-2. Whereas RT-PCR assay is accurate at detecting an active case of COVID-19,
identifying subjects who had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection has been challenging. In
contrast to tracking active cases, antibody detection can provide information on individual and herd
acquired immunity against SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, an antibody assay can help estimate the
. CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a
is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)
The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted May 20, 2020. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.12.20098962doi: medRxiv preprint
