TY - JOUR
T1 - Exposure factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence during the first eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands
T2 - A cross-sectional study
AU - Pagen, Demi M. E.
AU - Brinkhues, Stephanie
AU - Dukers-Muijrers, Nicole H. T. M.
AU - den Heijer, Casper D. J.
AU - Bouwmeester-Vincken, Noortje
AU - Hanssen, Daniëlle A. T.
AU - van Loo, Inge H. M.
AU - Savelkoul, Paul H. M.
AU - Hoebe, Christian J. P. A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was financially supported by the Province of Limburg, the Netherlands. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We gratefully acknowledge CJD Goense and LCJ Steijvers for their valuable contribution to the development of the questionnaire, and the technicians of the Department of Medical Microbiology subdivision serology of the MUMC+.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2022 Pagen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2022/5/1
Y1 - 2022/5/1
N2 - Background The availability of valid Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronvirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) serological tests overcome the problem of underestimated cumulative Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases during the first months of the pandemic in The Netherlands. The possibility to reliably determine the number of truly infected persons, enabled us to study initial drivers for exposure risk in the absence of routine testing. Numerous activities or circumstances can accelerate virus spread, here defined as exposure factors. Hence, we aimed to evaluate a wide variety of demographic, behavioural and social exposure factors associated with seropositivity during the first eight months of the pandemic in Limburg, The Netherlands. Methods SARS-CoV-2 point-seroprevalence was determined cross-sectionally to indicate previous infection in a convenience sample of minimal 10,000 inhabitants of the study province. All adult (18+ years) inhabitants of the study province were eligible to register themselves for participation. Once the initial 10,000 registrations were reached, a reserve list was kept to ensure sufficient participants. Possible exposure factors were mapped by means of an extensive questionnaire. Associated exposure factors were determined using univariable and multivariable logistic regression models. Results Seropositivity was established in 19.5% (n = 1,948) of the 10,001 participants (on average 49 years old (SD = 15; range 18–90 years), majority women (n = 5,829; 58.3%). Exposure factors associated with seropositivity included current education, working in healthcare and not working from home, and being a member of three or four associations or clubs. Specifically for February-March 2020, visiting an après-ski bar during winter sports in Austria, travelling to Spain, celebrating carnival, and participating in a singing activity or ball sport were associated with seropositivity. Conclusions Our results confirm that relevant COVID-19 exposure factors generally reflected circumstances where social distancing was impossible, and the number and duration of contacts was high, in particular for indoor activities.
AB - Background The availability of valid Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronvirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) serological tests overcome the problem of underestimated cumulative Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases during the first months of the pandemic in The Netherlands. The possibility to reliably determine the number of truly infected persons, enabled us to study initial drivers for exposure risk in the absence of routine testing. Numerous activities or circumstances can accelerate virus spread, here defined as exposure factors. Hence, we aimed to evaluate a wide variety of demographic, behavioural and social exposure factors associated with seropositivity during the first eight months of the pandemic in Limburg, The Netherlands. Methods SARS-CoV-2 point-seroprevalence was determined cross-sectionally to indicate previous infection in a convenience sample of minimal 10,000 inhabitants of the study province. All adult (18+ years) inhabitants of the study province were eligible to register themselves for participation. Once the initial 10,000 registrations were reached, a reserve list was kept to ensure sufficient participants. Possible exposure factors were mapped by means of an extensive questionnaire. Associated exposure factors were determined using univariable and multivariable logistic regression models. Results Seropositivity was established in 19.5% (n = 1,948) of the 10,001 participants (on average 49 years old (SD = 15; range 18–90 years), majority women (n = 5,829; 58.3%). Exposure factors associated with seropositivity included current education, working in healthcare and not working from home, and being a member of three or four associations or clubs. Specifically for February-March 2020, visiting an après-ski bar during winter sports in Austria, travelling to Spain, celebrating carnival, and participating in a singing activity or ball sport were associated with seropositivity. Conclusions Our results confirm that relevant COVID-19 exposure factors generally reflected circumstances where social distancing was impossible, and the number and duration of contacts was high, in particular for indoor activities.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85129954235
UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35551285
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85129954235
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0268057
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0268057
M3 - Article
C2 - 35551285
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 17
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 5 May
M1 - e0268057
ER -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being