Imperial College London
Portrait Picture

ProfessorHelenWard

Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health

Professor of Public Health
 
 
 
//

Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 3303h.ward Website

 
 
//

Location

 

311School of Public HealthWhite City Campus

//

Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Ward:2021:10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100098,
author = {Ward, H and Cooke, GS and Atchison, C and Whitaker, M and Elliott, J and Moshe, M and Brown, JC and Flower, B and Daunt, A and Ainslie, K and Ashby, D and Donnelly, CA and Riley, S and Darzi, A and Barclay, W and Elliott, P},
doi = {10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100098},
journal = {The Lancet Regional Health - Europe},
pages = {1--7},
title = {Prevalence of antibody positivity to SARS-CoV-2 following the first peak of infection in England: Serial cross-sectional studies of 365,000 adults},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100098},
volume = {4},
year = {2021}
}
Download

RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - BackgroundThe time-concentrated nature of the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in England in March and April 2020 provides a natural experiment to measure changes in antibody positivity at the population level before onset of the second wave and initiation of the vaccination programme.MethodsThree cross-sectional national surveys with non-overlapping random samples of the population in England undertaken between late June and September 2020 (REACT-2 study). 365,104 adults completed questionnaires and self-administered lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) tests for IgG against SARS-CoV-2.FindingsOverall, 17,576 people had detectable antibodies, a prevalence of 4.9% (95% confidence intervals 4.9, 5.0) when adjusted for test characteristics and weighted to the adult population of England. The prevalence declined from 6.0% (5.8, 6.1), to 4.8% (4.7, 5.0) and 4.4% (4.3, 4.5), over the three rounds of the study a difference of -26.5% (-29.0, -23.8). The highest prevalence and smallest overall decline in positivity was in the youngest age group (18-24 years) at -14.9% (-21.6, -8.1), and lowest prevalence and largest decline in the oldest group (>74 years) at -39.0% (-50.8, -27.2). The decline from June to September 2020 was largest in those who did not report a history of COVID-19 at -64.0% (-75.6, -52.3), compared to -22.3% (-27.0, -17.7) in those with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed on PCR.InterpretationA large proportion of the population remained susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection in England based on naturally acquired immunity from the first wave. Widespread vaccination is needed to confer immunity and control the epidemic at population level.FundingThis work was funded by the Department of Health and Social Care in England.
AU  - Ward,H
AU  - Cooke,GS
AU  - Atchison,C
AU  - Whitaker,M
AU  - Elliott,J
AU  - Moshe,M
AU  - Brown,JC
AU  - Flower,B
AU  - Daunt,A
AU  - Ainslie,K
AU  - Ashby,D
AU  - Donnelly,CA
AU  - Riley,S
AU  - Darzi,A
AU  - Barclay,W
AU  - Elliott,P
DO  - 10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100098
EP  - 7
PY  - 2021///
SN  - 2666-7762
SP  - 1
TI  - Prevalence of antibody positivity to SARS-CoV-2 following the first peak of infection in England: Serial cross-sectional studies of 365,000 adults
T2  - The Lancet Regional Health - Europe
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100098
UR  - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666776221000752?via%3Dihub
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/88233
VL  - 4
ER  -
Download