Public Health Programmes, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK.
Office for National Statistics, Newport, UK.
J Infect. 2023 Apr;86(4):361-368. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2023.02.016. Epub 2023 Feb 15.
SARS-CoV-2 infection rates are likely to be underestimated in children because of asymptomatic or mild infections. We aim to estimate national and regional prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in primary (4-11 years old) and secondary (11-18 years old) school children between 10 November and 10 December 2021.
Cross-sectional surveillance in England using two-stage sampling, firstly stratifying into regions and selecting local authorities, then selecting schools according to a stratified sample within selected local authorities. Participants were sampled using a novel oral fluid-validated assay for SARS-CoV-2 spike and nucleocapsid IgG antibodies.
4980 students from 117 state-funded schools (2706 from 83 primary schools, 2274 from 34 secondary schools) provided a valid sample. After weighting for age, sex, and ethnicity, and adjusting for assay accuracy, the national prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in primary school students, who were all unvaccinated, was 40.1% (95% CI 37.3-43.0). Antibody prevalence increased with age (p < 0.001) and was higher in urban than rural schools (p = 0.01). In secondary school students, the adjusted, weighted national prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 82.4% (95% CI 79.5-85.1); including 71.5% (95% CI 65.7-76.8) in unvaccinated and 97.5% (95% CI 96.1-98.5) in vaccinated students. Antibody prevalence increased with age (p < 0.001), and was not significantly different in urban versus rural students (p = 0.1).
In November 2021, using a validated oral fluid assay, national SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was estimated to be 40.1% in primary school students and 82.4% in secondary school students. In unvaccinated children, this was approximately threefold higher than confirmed infections highlighting the importance of seroprevalence studies to estimate prior exposure.
Deidentified study data are available for access by accredited researchers in the ONS Secure Research Service (SRS) for accredited research purposes under part 5, chapter 5 of the Digital Economy Act 2017. For further information about accreditation, contact Research.support@ons.gov.uk or visit the SRS website.
由于无症状或轻症感染，SARS-CoV-2 感染率在儿童中可能被低估。我们旨在估计 2021 年 11 月 10 日至 12 月 10 日期间，4-11 岁的小学生和 11-18 岁的中学生中 SARS-CoV-2 抗体的全国和地区流行率。
在英格兰使用两阶段抽样进行横断面监测，首先按地区分层并选择地方当局，然后在选定的地方当局内按分层样本选择学校。使用一种新型的口腔液验证 SARS-CoV-2 刺突和核衣壳 IgG 抗体的检测方法对参与者进行采样。
从 117 所国立学校的 4980 名学生（83 所小学 2706 名，34 所中学 2274 名）提供了有效样本。对年龄、性别和种族进行加权，并根据检测准确性进行调整后，未接种疫苗的小学生中 SARS-CoV-2 抗体的全国流行率为 40.1%（95%CI 37.3-43.0）。抗体流行率随年龄增长而增加（p<0.001），城市学校高于农村学校（p=0.01）。在中学生中，调整后的全国 SARS-CoV-2 抗体加权流行率为 82.4%（95%CI 79.5-85.1）；其中未接种疫苗的学生为 71.5%（95%CI 65.7-76.8），接种疫苗的学生为 97.5%（95%CI 96.1-98.5）。抗体流行率随年龄增长而增加（p<0.001），城市和农村学生之间没有显著差异（p=0.1）。
2021 年 11 月，使用经过验证的口腔液检测方法，估计小学生 SARS-CoV-2 血清流行率为 40.1%，中学生为 82.4%。在未接种疫苗的儿童中，这一比例约为确诊感染的三倍，突出了血清流行率研究对于估计既往暴露的重要性。
根据 2017 年《数字经济法案》第 5 章第 5 部分，经认可的研究人员可通过 ONS 安全研究服务（SRS）访问去识别研究数据，用于经认可的研究目的。有关认证的更多信息，请联系 Research.support@ons.gov.uk 或访问 SRS 网站。
