BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) manifests as asymptomatic to mildly symptomatic illness but at times becomes so severe to the extent of leading to death. The study on seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among the voluntary blood donors, who represent the hale and healthy individuals in the community will be a useful indicator of community prevalence of the infection. As the disease significantly impairs blood supply, understanding the prevalence helps in implementing necessary safety measures in places like blood bank.
METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study was carried out between January 2021 and December 2021 during which 100 donors who were not vaccinated and without any prior Covid-19 infection were included. After obtaining informed consent from the blood donors willing to participate in the study, SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody screening was done using chemiluminescence immunoassay.
RESULTS: The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies among the blood donors were 45%. 55.4% of the donors from the age group of 21-30 years and 29% of the donors in the age group of 31-40 years were reactive. 59.5% of the first time donors, 51.3% of the infrequent donors and 12.5% of the regular donors were found to be reactive. There was a statistically significant relationship between the age and the frequency of donation with the seropositivity rate.
CONCLUSION : Study on seroprevalence among the asymptomatic individuals serves as an indicator for the transmission of virus across the community, to implement measures to prevent the spread of virus among the population and to implement vaccination programmes.