IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i12p7257-d838128.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Khalid Hajissa

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia
    Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Omdurman Islamic University, P.O. Box 382, Omdurman 14415, Sudan)

  • Md Asiful Islam

    (Department of Haematology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia
    Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK)

  • Siti Asma Hassan

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia
    Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia)

  • Abdul Rahman Zaidah

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia
    Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia)

  • Nabilah Ismail

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia
    Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia)

  • Zeehaida Mohamed

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia
    Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia)

Abstract

A reliable estimate of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies is increasingly important to track the spread of infection and define the true burden of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic review and a meta-analysis were conducted with the objective of estimating the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Africa. A systematic search of the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar electronic databases was conducted. Thirty-five eligible studies were included. Using meta-analysis of proportions, the overall seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was calculated as 16% (95% CI 13.1–18.9%). Based on antibody isotypes, 14.6% (95% CI 12.2–17.1%) and 11.5% (95% CI 8.7–14.2%) were seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM, respectively, while 6.6% (95% CI 4.9–8.3%) were tested positive for both IgM and IgG. Healthcare workers (16.3%) had higher seroprevalence than the general population (11.7%), blood donors (7.5%) and pregnant women (5.7%). The finding of this systematic review and meta-analysis (SRMA) may not accurately reflect the true seroprevalence status of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Africa, hence, further seroprevalence studies across Africa are required to assess and monitor the growing COVID-19 burden.

Suggested Citation

  • Khalid Hajissa & Md Asiful Islam & Siti Asma Hassan & Abdul Rahman Zaidah & Nabilah Ismail & Zeehaida Mohamed, 2022. "Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-14, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:12:p:7257-:d:838128
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/12/7257/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/12/7257/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jesús Castilla & Ujué Fresán & Camino Trobajo-Sanmartín & Marcela Guevara, 2021. "Altitude and SARS-CoV-2 Infection in the First Pandemic Wave in Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-8, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shoumik Kundu & Sayeda Sadia Alam & Md Al-Tareq Mia & Tareq Hossan & Phil Hider & Md. Ibrahim Khalil & Kamarul Imran Musa & Md Asiful Islam, 2023. "Prevalence of Anemia among Children and Adolescents of Bangladesh: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-15, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Esteban Ortiz-Prado & Katherine Simbaña-Rivera & Raul Fernandez-Naranjo & Jorge Eduardo Vásconez & Aquiles R. Henriquez-Trujillo & Alexander Paolo Vallejo-Janeta & Ismar A. Rivera-Olivero & Tannya Loz, 2022. "SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load Analysis at Low and High Altitude: A Case Study from Ecuador," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-10, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:12:p:7257-:d:838128. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.