Browsing by Author "Alotaibi, Abdullah"

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    Seroprevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 among blood donors in the early month of the pandemic in Saudi Arabia
    (Elsevier, 2020) Banjar, Ayman; Al-Tawfiq, Jaffar A.; Alruwaily, Amaal; Alserehi, Haleema; Al-Qunaibet, Ada; Alaswad, Rehab; Almutlaq, Hind; Almudaiheem, Abdullah; Khojah, Abdullah T.; Alsaif, Faisal; Almolad, Shaza Karim; Alqahtani, Saeed; AlJurayyan, Abdullah; Alotaibi, Abdullah; Almalki, Safar; Abuhaimed, Yousef; Alkhashan, Abdullah; Alfaifi, Amal; Alabdulkareem, Khaled; Jokhdar, Hani; Assiri, Abdullah; Almudarra, Sami; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Serologic testing provides better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 prevalence and its transmission. This study was an investigation of the prevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 among blood donors in Saudi Arabia. Objective: To estimate the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among blood donors in Saudi Arabia during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Serology results and epidemiological data were analyzed for 837 adult blood donors, with no confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, in Saudi Arabia from 20th to 25th May 2020. Seroprevalence was determined using electrochemical immunoassay to detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Results: The overall seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 1.4% (12/837). Non-citizens had higher seroprevalence compared with citizens (OR 13.6, p = 0.001). Secondary education was significantly associated with higher seroprevalence compared with higher education (OR 6.8, p = 0.005). The data showed that the highest seroprevalence was in Makkah (8.1%). Uisng Makkah seroprevalence as the reference, the seroprevalence in other areas was: Madinah 4.1% (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.12-1.94), Jeddah 2.3% (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.31-2.25), and Qassim 2.9 % (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.04-2.89) and these were not statistically different from seroprevalence in the Makkah region. Conclusions: At the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia, the seroprevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 among blood donors was low, but was higher among non-citizens. These findings may indicate that non-citizens and less educated individuals may be less attentive to preventive measures. Monitoring seroprevalence trends over time require repeated sampling.