1. SARS-CoV-2 infection is at herd immunity in the majority segment of the population of Qatar
- Author
-
Elias Tayar, Faisal Daraan, Sandeep Chougule, Odette Chaghoury, Bassam K. Akkarathodiyil, Laith J. Abu-Raddad, Inayath M. Umar, Mohamed M. Thaivalappil, Saed M. A. Saefan, Nahid Mostafa, Abdulsalam Ali A. H. Al-Qahtani, Mohamed Morhaf M. H. Alakshar, Sanjay U. Ranbhise, Abubacker S. Thoyalil, Hasan Ali Kasem, Ahmad Ali Ataalla, Ayat A. Alkhalaf, Abhilash K. K. V. Gopinathan, Gheyath K. Nasrallah, Hadi M. Yassine, Hamad Eid Al Romaihi, Peter Coyle, Andrew Jeremijenko, Hiam Chemaitelly, Monther H. A. Al-Shedifat, Hanan F. Abdul Rahim, Ashraf Abdelkarim, Roberto Bertollini, Riyazuddin Mohammad Shaik, Mohamed Sahl, Feroz J. Poolakundan, Ali Nizar Latif, Sami Abdeen, Abdullatif Al Khal, Mohamed Ghaith Al Kuwari, Anvar Hassan Kaleeckal, Einas Al Kuwari, Jinan Suliman, Ahmed Ismail, Elmoubasher Farag, Anas Ansari, Zaina Al Kanaani, Adeel A. Butt, Meynard J. A. Agsalog, and Mohamed H. Al-Thani
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ,Population ,Clinical Neurology ,Asymptomatic ,Serology ,Herd immunity ,Internal medicine ,Major Article ,Medicine ,Seroprevalence ,education ,Qatar ,education.field_of_study ,biology ,seroprevalence ,business.industry ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Infection prevalence ,COVID-19 ,immunity ,Infectious Diseases ,AcademicSubjects/MED00290 ,Oncology ,biology.protein ,Antibody ,medicine.symptom ,business - Abstract
Background Qatar experienced a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic that disproportionately affected the craft and manual worker (CMW) population, who comprise 60% of the total population. This study aimed to assess ever and/or current infection prevalence in this population. Methods A cross-sectional population-based survey was conducted during July 26 to September 09, 2020, to assess both anti-SARS-CoV-2 positivity through serological testing and current infection positivity through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. Associations with antibody and PCR positivity were identified through regression analyses. Results The study included 2641 participants, 69.3% of whom were Conclusions Six in every 10 CMWs in Qatar have been infected, suggestive of reaching the herd immunity threshold. Infection severity was low, with only 1 in every 200 infections progressing to be severe or critical. Only 1 in every 10 infections had been previously diagnosed, which is suggestive of mostly asymptomatic or mild infections.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF