General Director of Islamic Health Society, Baabda, Lebanon.
Department of Research, Islamic Health Society, Baabda, Lebanon.
BMC Infect Dis. 2022 Jan 10;22(1):42. doi: 10.1186/s12879-022-07031-z.
Lebanon, a small country in the Middle East, remains severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Seroprevalence surveys of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies provide accurate estimates of SARS-CoV-2 infection and hence evaluate the extent of the pandemic. The present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Lebanon and to compare the estimated cumulative number of COVID-19 cases with the officially registered number of laboratory-confirmed cases up to January 15, 2021.
A nationwide population-based serosurvey study was conducted in Lebanon between December 7, 2020, and January 15, 2021, before the initiation of the national vaccination program. The nCOVID-19 IgG & IgM point-of-care (POCT) rapid test was used to detect the presence of anti-SARS-COV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) in the blood. Seroprevalence was estimated after weighting for sex, age, and area of residence and adjusting for the test performance.
Of the 2058 participants, 329 were positive for IgG SARS-COV-2, resulting in a crude seroprevalence of 16.0% (95% CI 14.4-17.6). The weighed seroprevalence was 15.9% (95% CI of 14.4 and 17.4). After adjusting for test performance, the population weight-adjusted seroprevalence was 18.5% (95% CI 16.8-20.2). This estimate implies that 895,770 individuals of the general population were previously infected by COVID-19 up to January 15, 2021 in Lebanon. The overall estimated number of subjects with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection was three times higher than the officially reported cumulative number of confirmed cases. Seroprevalence was similar across age groups and sexes (p-value > 0.05). However, significant differences were revealed across governorates.
Our results suggest that the Lebanese population is still susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and far from achieving herd immunity. These findings represent an important contribution to the surveillance of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon and to the understanding of how this virus spreads. Continued surveillance for COVID-19 cases and maintaining effective preventive measures are recommended to control the epidemic spread in conjunction with a national vaccination campaign to achieve the desired level of herd immunity against COVID-19.
黎巴嫩是中东的一个小国，仍然受到 COVID-19 大流行的严重影响。抗 SARS-CoV-2 抗体的血清阳性率调查提供了对 SARS-CoV-2 感染的准确估计，从而评估了大流行的程度。本研究旨在评估黎巴嫩 SARS-CoV-2 抗体的流行率，并将估计的 COVID-19 累计病例数与截至 2021 年 1 月 15 日官方登记的实验室确诊病例数进行比较。
2020 年 12 月 7 日至 2021 年 1 月 15 日，在全国范围内开展了一项基于人群的血清学调查研究，该研究在全国疫苗接种计划开始之前进行。使用 nCOVID-19 IgG 和 IgM 即时检测（POCT）快速检测试剂盒检测血液中 SARS-CoV-2 免疫球蛋白 G（IgG）的存在。在对性别、年龄和居住地进行加权并调整检测性能后，估计了血清阳性率。
在 2058 名参与者中，有 329 名 IgG SARS-CoV-2 呈阳性，粗阳性率为 16.0%（95%置信区间 14.4-17.6）。加权阳性率为 15.9%（95%置信区间 14.4 和 17.4）。在调整检测性能后，人群加权阳性率为 18.5%（95%置信区间 16.8-20.2）。这一估计意味着，截至 2021 年 1 月 15 日，黎巴嫩一般人群中有 895770 人以前感染过 COVID-19。总体上，以前感染 SARS-CoV-2 的人数估计是官方报告的累计确诊病例数的三倍。血清阳性率在年龄组和性别之间相似（p 值>0.05）。然而，不同省份之间存在显著差异。
我们的研究结果表明，黎巴嫩人口仍易受 SARS-CoV-2 感染，远未达到群体免疫。这些发现为黎巴嫩 COVID-19 大流行的监测以及了解该病毒的传播方式做出了重要贡献。建议继续监测 COVID-19 病例，并在全国疫苗接种运动的同时继续采取有效的预防措施，以控制疫情传播，达到对 COVID-19 的理想群体免疫水平。
