Universidade Federal de Pelotas. Faculdade de Medicina. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Epidemiologia. Pelotas, RS, Brasil.
Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre. Departamento de Saúde Coletiva. Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
Rev Saude Publica. 2021 Nov 22;55:82. doi: 10.11606/s1518-8787.2021055004030. eCollection 2021.
To evaluate the prevalence of reports of symptoms of COVID-19 among individuals with and without antibodies and identify those with greater capability to predict the presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
The study uses data collected in phases 5 to 8 of Epicovid-19-RS. The presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was evaluated by a rapid test. The occurrence of cough, fever, palpitations, sore throat, difficulty breathing, changes in taste and smell, vomiting, diarrhea, body pain, shaking, and headache since March 2020 was also evaluated. Then, the capability to predict the evaluated symptoms concerning the presence of antibodies was calculated.
A total of 18,000 individuals were interviewed and 181 had antibodies against COVID-19 in phases 5 to 8. The proportion of asymptomatic individuals was 19.9% among participants with antibodies and 49.7% among those without antibodies. All symptoms were reported more frequently by individuals with antibodies. The division of the prevalence of symptoms among individuals with antibodies by the prevalence among individuals without antibodies showed the following prevalence ratios: for changes in smell or taste (9.1), fever (4.2), tremors (3.9), breathing difficulty (3.2) and cough (2.8 times). Anosmia and fever were the symptoms with a greater capability to predict the presence of antibodies.
The prevalence of symptoms was higher among individuals with antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. The proportion of asymptomatic individuals was low. Altered smell or taste and fever were the symptoms that most predict the presence of antibodies. These results can help to identify probable cases, contributing to the clinical diagnosis and screening of patients for testing and isolation guidance in positive cases, especially in scenarios of the scarcity of diagnostic COVID-19 tests.
评估有和无抗体的个体中 COVID-19 症状报告的流行率，并确定那些更能预测针对 SARS-CoV-2 的抗体存在的能力。
本研究使用了 Epicovid-19-RS 第 5 至 8 阶段收集的数据。通过快速检测评估针对 SARS-CoV-2 的抗体存在情况。评估自 2020 年 3 月以来出现的咳嗽、发热、心悸、喉咙痛、呼吸困难、味觉和嗅觉改变、呕吐、腹泻、身体疼痛、颤抖和头痛等症状的发生情况。然后，计算评估症状针对抗体存在的预测能力。
共对 18000 人进行了访谈，在第 5 至 8 阶段有 181 人具有针对 COVID-19 的抗体。有抗体的参与者中无症状个体的比例为 19.9%，无抗体的参与者中无症状个体的比例为 49.7%。所有症状在有抗体的个体中报告的频率更高。将有抗体的个体中症状的流行率除以无抗体的个体中症状的流行率，得到以下流行率比：嗅觉或味觉改变（9.1）、发热（4.2）、震颤（3.9）、呼吸困难（3.2）和咳嗽（2.8 倍）。嗅觉丧失和发热是预测抗体存在的能力更强的症状。
针对 SARS-CoV-2 的抗体阳性个体的症状流行率更高。无症状个体的比例较低。嗅觉或味觉改变和发热是最能预测抗体存在的症状。这些结果有助于识别可能的病例，有助于临床诊断，并对疑似病例进行检测和隔离指导，特别是在 COVID-19 诊断检测稀缺的情况下。
