Seroprevalence of Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 at a Community Hospital Emergency Department and Outpatient Laboratory in Northern Orange County, California.

Publication Title

J Racial Ethn Health Disparities

Authors

Jason Yamaki, Department of Pharmacy, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Newport Beach, CA, USA.
Harry Peled, St Jude Medical Center, Fullerton, CAFollow
Sajen Mathews, Providence St. Joseph Health System, St. Jude Medical Center, Fullerton, CA, USA.Follow
David J Park, Providence St. Joseph Health System, St. Jude Medical Center, Fullerton, CA, USA.Follow
Mina Firoozi, Providence St. Joseph Health System, St. Jude Medical Center, Fullerton, CA, USA.Follow
Kim Smith, Providence St. Joseph HealthFollow
Lee Nguyen, Providence St. Joseph Health System, St. Jude Medical Center, Fullerton, CA, USA.Follow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-23-2020

Keywords

2019-nCoV; diversity/inclusion

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The severe acute respiratory syndrome related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected more than 20 million people worldwide, and the spread is most prevalent in the USA, where California had accounted over 240,000 cases in the initial 5 months of the pandemic. To estimate the number of infected persons in our community, we conducted a cross-sectional study to estimate seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study evaluated the presence of immunoglobulin G, antibody for SARS-CoV-2 during the time period of July 15, 2020, to July 27, 2020. Testing was done on serum samples from patients who had visited affiliated outpatient clinics or our emergency department. Additionally, we collected age, gender, ethnicity, race, and location of testing.

RESULTS: Eight hundred sixty-five tests were included in the study. The outpatient clinics cohort accounted for 56% of results and emergency department (ED) contributed 44%. The positive percentage of SARS-CoV-2 test was 9.4% (95% CI: 0.08-0.12). The positivity rates of the outpatient (5.6%) and ED (14.2%) setting differed. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG was greatest in those that identified as Hispanic/Latino, 18.1% versus 13.4% in other groups. Specifically compared to the non-Hispanic/Latino population, the prevalence was significantly higher, with a relative risk of 2.73 (95% CI: 1.8-4.1), p < 0.0001.

CONCLUSION: The low antibody positivity rate in the community indicates the need for a vaccine. The Hispanic/Latino patient population should be considered for increased education on preventing transmission and acquisition of COVID-19 as well as being considered as a priority for vaccination once a vaccine is available.

Specialty/Research Institute

Emergency Medicine

Specialty/Research Institute

Infectious Diseases

Specialty/Research Institute

Pharmacy