Nah Eun-Hee, Cho Seon, Park Hyeran, Hwang Inhwan, Cho Han-Ik
Health Promotion Research Institute, Korea Association of Health Promotion, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Health Promotion Research Institute, Korea Association of Health Promotion, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
BMJ Open. 2021 Apr 24;11(4):e049837. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049837.
Asymptomatic active infection might be an important contributor to the COVID-19 outbreak. Serological tests can assess the extent of exposure and herd immunity to COVID-19 in general populations. This study aimed to estimate the nationwide seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies according to age, sex and clinical status in South Korea.
DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study randomly selected health examinees who underwent health check-up at 16 health promotion centres in 13 Korean cities across the country between late September and early December 2020. Residual serum samples were obtained from 4085 subjects (2014 men and 2071 women). Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay using Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 (Roche Elecsys, Mannheim, Germany).
Fisher's exact test was used to compare the seroprevalence according to sex, age group and region. The relative risks of being seropositive according to the characteristics of the study subjects were analysed using logistic regression analysis.
The overall seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 was 0.39% (95% CI=0.20% to 0.58%): 0.30% (95% CI=0.06% to 0.54%) for men and 0.48% (95% CI=0.18% to 0.78%) for women. The rate of anti-SARS-CoV-2 positivity varied significantly between different regions of Korea (p=0.003), but not with age group, sex, or the statuses of obesity, diabetes, hypertension or smoking.
Most of the Korean population is still immunologically vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2, but the seroprevalence has increased relative to that found in studies performed prior to September 2020 in Korea.
无症状的活动性感染可能是导致新冠疫情爆发的一个重要因素。血清学检测可评估普通人群中新冠病毒的暴露程度和群体免疫力。本研究旨在估算韩国全国范围内根据年龄、性别和临床状况的新冠病毒抗体血清阳性率。
设计、背景与参与者：这项横断面研究于2020年9月下旬至12月初在韩国全国13个城市的16个健康促进中心随机选取接受健康检查的人员。从4085名受试者（2014名男性和2071名女性）中获取剩余血清样本。采用罗氏电化学发光免疫分析法（Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2，德国曼海姆罗氏公司）检测新冠病毒抗体。
采用Fisher精确检验比较不同性别、年龄组和地区的血清阳性率。使用逻辑回归分析根据研究对象的特征分析血清阳性的相对风险。
抗新冠病毒的总体血清阳性率为0.39%（95%置信区间=0.20%至0.58%）：男性为0.30%（95%置信区间=0.06%至0.54%），女性为0.48%（95%置信区间=0.18%至0.78%）。韩国不同地区的抗新冠病毒阳性率差异显著（p=0.003），但与年龄组、性别、肥胖、糖尿病、高血压或吸烟状况无关。
韩国大多数人群在免疫上仍易感染新冠病毒，但与2020年9月之前在韩国进行的研究相比，血清阳性率有所上升。
