Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection at the University of Barcelona during the Third COVID-19 Pandemic Wave in Spain

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic started in December 2019 and still is a major global health challenge. Lockdown measures and social distancing sparked a global shift towards online learning, which deeply impacted universities' daily life, and the Univer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-06, Vol.18 (12), p.6526
Main Authors: Videla, Sebastián, Otero, Aurema, Martí, Sara, Domínguez, M Ángeles, Fabrellas, Nuria, Delgado-Hito, M Pilar, Cruz, Imma, Tebé, Cristian, Vinuesa, Teresa, Ardila, Fernando, Sancho, Marta, Fernández, Esteve, Figuerola, Montserrat, Ciruela, Francisco
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
College campuses
Communicable Disease Control
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Cross-Sectional Studies
Disease control
Epidemiology
Global health
Herd immunity
Humans
IgG antibody
Immunoglobulin G
Infections
Medical research
Pandemics
Polymerase chain reaction
Prevalence
Public health
Reverse transcription
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Spain - epidemiology
Vaccination
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Summary:The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic started in December 2019 and still is a major global health challenge. Lockdown measures and social distancing sparked a global shift towards online learning, which deeply impacted universities' daily life, and the University of Barcelona (UB) was not an exception. Accordingly, we aimed to determine the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic at the UB. To that end, we performed a cross-sectional study on a sample of 2784 UB members ( = 52,529). Participants answered a brief, ad hoc, online epidemiological questionnaire and provided a nasal swab for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) SARS-CoV-2 analysis and a venous blood sample for SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody assay. Total prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection (positive RT-PCR or positive IgG) was 14.9% (95%CI 13.3 to 17.0%). Forty-four participants (1.6%, 95%CI: 1.2-2.1%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR. IgG against SARS-CoV-2 was observed in 12.8% (95%CI: 11.6-14.1%) of participants. Overall, while waiting for population vaccination and/or increased herd immunity, we should concentrate on identifying and isolating new cases and their contacts.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph18126526