Monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Prevalence of Antibodies in a Large, Repetitive Cross-Sectional Study of Blood Donors in Germany—Results from the SeBluCo Study 2020–2022

Ruth Offergeld; Karina Preußel; Thomas Zeiler; Konstanze Aurich; Barbara I. Baumann-Baretti; Sandra Ciesek; Victor M. Corman; Viktoria Dienst; Christian Drosten; Siegfried Görg; Andreas Greinacher; Marica Grossegesse; Sebastian Haller; Hans Gert Heuft; Natalie Hofmann; Peter A. Horn; Claudia Houareau; Ilay Gülec; Carlos Luis Jiménez Klingberg; David Juhl; Monika Lindemann; Silke Martin; Hannelore K. Neuhauser; Andreas Nitsche; Julia Ohme; Sven Peine; Ulrich J. Sachs; Lars Schaade; Richard Schäfer; Heinrich Scheiblauer; Martin Schlaud; Michael Schmidt; Markus Umhau; Tanja Vollmer; Franz F. Wagner; Lothar H. Wieler; Hendrik Wilking; Malte Ziemann; Marlow Zimmermann; Matthias an der Heiden

doi:10.3390/pathogens12040551

Monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Prevalence of Antibodies in a Large, Repetitive Cross-Sectional Study of Blood Donors in Germany—Results from the SeBluCo Study 2020–2022

Ruth Offergeld^*, Karina Preußel, Thomas Zeiler, Konstanze Aurich, Barbara I. Baumann-Baretti, Sandra Ciesek, Victor M. Corman, Viktoria Dienst, Christian Drosten, Siegfried Görg, Andreas Greinacher, Marica Grossegesse, Sebastian Haller, Hans Gert Heuft, Natalie Hofmann, Peter A. Horn, Claudia Houareau, Ilay Gülec, Carlos Luis Jiménez Klingberg, David JuhlMonika Lindemann, Silke Martin, Hannelore K. Neuhauser, Andreas Nitsche, Julia Ohme, Sven Peine, Ulrich J. Sachs, Lars Schaade, Richard Schäfer, Heinrich Scheiblauer, Martin Schlaud, Michael Schmidt, Markus Umhau, Tanja Vollmer, Franz F. Wagner, Lothar H. Wieler, Hendrik Wilking, Malte Ziemann, Marlow Zimmermann, Matthias an der Heiden

^*Corresponding author for this work

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 serosurveillance is important to adapt infection control measures and estimate the degree of underreporting. Blood donor samples can be used as a proxy for the healthy adult population. In a repeated cross-sectional study from April 2020 to April 2021, September 2021, and April/May 2022, 13 blood establishments collected 134,510 anonymised specimens from blood donors in 28 study regions across Germany. These were tested for antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and nucleocapsid, including neutralising capacity. Seroprevalence was adjusted for test performance and sampling and weighted for demographic differences between the sample and the general population. Seroprevalence estimates were compared to notified COVID-19 cases. The overall adjusted SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence remained below 2% until December 2020 and increased to 18.1% in April 2021, 89.4% in September 2021, and to 100% in April/May 2022. Neutralising capacity was found in 74% of all positive specimens until April 2021 and in 98% in April/May 2022. Our serosurveillance allowed for repeated estimations of underreporting from the early stage of the pandemic onwards. Underreporting ranged between factors 5.1 and 1.1 in the first two waves of the pandemic and remained well below 2 afterwards, indicating an adequate test strategy and notification system in Germany.

Original language	English
Article number	551
Journal	Pathogens
Volume	12
Issue number	4
ISSN	2076-0817
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12040551
Publication status	Published - 04.2023

Research Areas and Centers

Academic Focus: Center for Infection and Inflammation Research (ZIEL)

DFG Research Classification Scheme

2.21-05 Immunology

Coronavirus related work

Research on SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.3390/pathogens12040551

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Offergeld, R., Preußel, K., Zeiler, T., Aurich, K., Baumann-Baretti, B. I., Ciesek, S., Corman, V. M., Dienst, V., Drosten, C., Görg, S., Greinacher, A., Grossegesse, M., Haller, S., Heuft, H. G., Hofmann, N., Horn, P. A., Houareau, C., Gülec, I., Jiménez Klingberg, C. L., ... der Heiden, M. A. (2023). Monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Prevalence of Antibodies in a Large, Repetitive Cross-Sectional Study of Blood Donors in Germany—Results from the SeBluCo Study 2020–2022. Pathogens, 12(4), Article 551. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12040551

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title = "Monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Prevalence of Antibodies in a Large, Repetitive Cross-Sectional Study of Blood Donors in Germany—Results from the SeBluCo Study 2020–2022",

abstract = "SARS-CoV-2 serosurveillance is important to adapt infection control measures and estimate the degree of underreporting. Blood donor samples can be used as a proxy for the healthy adult population. In a repeated cross-sectional study from April 2020 to April 2021, September 2021, and April/May 2022, 13 blood establishments collected 134,510 anonymised specimens from blood donors in 28 study regions across Germany. These were tested for antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and nucleocapsid, including neutralising capacity. Seroprevalence was adjusted for test performance and sampling and weighted for demographic differences between the sample and the general population. Seroprevalence estimates were compared to notified COVID-19 cases. The overall adjusted SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence remained below 2% until December 2020 and increased to 18.1% in April 2021, 89.4% in September 2021, and to 100% in April/May 2022. Neutralising capacity was found in 74% of all positive specimens until April 2021 and in 98% in April/May 2022. Our serosurveillance allowed for repeated estimations of underreporting from the early stage of the pandemic onwards. Underreporting ranged between factors 5.1 and 1.1 in the first two waves of the pandemic and remained well below 2 afterwards, indicating an adequate test strategy and notification system in Germany.",

author = "Ruth Offergeld and Karina Preu{\ss}el and Thomas Zeiler and Konstanze Aurich and Baumann-Baretti, {Barbara I.} and Sandra Ciesek and Corman, {Victor M.} and Viktoria Dienst and Christian Drosten and Siegfried G{\"o}rg and Andreas Greinacher and Marica Grossegesse and Sebastian Haller and Heuft, {Hans Gert} and Natalie Hofmann and Horn, {Peter A.} and Claudia Houareau and Ilay G{\"u}lec and {Jim{\'e}nez Klingberg}, {Carlos Luis} and David Juhl and Monika Lindemann and Silke Martin and Neuhauser, {Hannelore K.} and Andreas Nitsche and Julia Ohme and Sven Peine and Sachs, {Ulrich J.} and Lars Schaade and Richard Sch{\"a}fer and Heinrich Scheiblauer and Martin Schlaud and Michael Schmidt and Markus Umhau and Tanja Vollmer and Wagner, {Franz F.} and Wieler, {Lothar H.} and Hendrik Wilking and Malte Ziemann and Marlow Zimmermann and {der Heiden}, {Matthias an}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 by the authors.",

year = "2023",

month = apr,

doi = "10.3390/pathogens12040551",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

journal = "Pathogens",

issn = "2076-0817",

number = "4",

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Offergeld, R, Preußel, K, Zeiler, T, Aurich, K, Baumann-Baretti, BI, Ciesek, S, Corman, VM, Dienst, V, Drosten, C, Görg, S, Greinacher, A, Grossegesse, M, Haller, S, Heuft, HG, Hofmann, N, Horn, PA, Houareau, C, Gülec, I, Jiménez Klingberg, CL, Juhl, D, Lindemann, M, Martin, S, Neuhauser, HK, Nitsche, A, Ohme, J, Peine, S, Sachs, UJ, Schaade, L, Schäfer, R, Scheiblauer, H, Schlaud, M, Schmidt, M, Umhau, M, Vollmer, T, Wagner, FF, Wieler, LH, Wilking, H, Ziemann, M, Zimmermann, M & der Heiden, MA 2023, 'Monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Prevalence of Antibodies in a Large, Repetitive Cross-Sectional Study of Blood Donors in Germany—Results from the SeBluCo Study 2020–2022', Pathogens, vol. 12, no. 4, 551. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12040551

TY - JOUR

T1 - Monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

T2 - Prevalence of Antibodies in a Large, Repetitive Cross-Sectional Study of Blood Donors in Germany—Results from the SeBluCo Study 2020–2022

AU - Offergeld, Ruth

AU - Preußel, Karina

AU - Zeiler, Thomas

AU - Aurich, Konstanze

AU - Baumann-Baretti, Barbara I.

AU - Ciesek, Sandra

AU - Corman, Victor M.

AU - Dienst, Viktoria

AU - Drosten, Christian

AU - Görg, Siegfried

AU - Greinacher, Andreas

AU - Grossegesse, Marica

AU - Haller, Sebastian

AU - Heuft, Hans Gert

AU - Hofmann, Natalie

AU - Horn, Peter A.

AU - Houareau, Claudia

AU - Gülec, Ilay

AU - Jiménez Klingberg, Carlos Luis

AU - Juhl, David

AU - Lindemann, Monika

AU - Martin, Silke

AU - Neuhauser, Hannelore K.

AU - Nitsche, Andreas

AU - Ohme, Julia

AU - Peine, Sven

AU - Sachs, Ulrich J.

AU - Schaade, Lars

AU - Schäfer, Richard

AU - Scheiblauer, Heinrich

AU - Schlaud, Martin

AU - Schmidt, Michael

AU - Umhau, Markus

AU - Vollmer, Tanja

AU - Wagner, Franz F.

AU - Wieler, Lothar H.

AU - Wilking, Hendrik

AU - Ziemann, Malte

AU - Zimmermann, Marlow

AU - der Heiden, Matthias an

PY - 2023/4

Y1 - 2023/4

N2 - SARS-CoV-2 serosurveillance is important to adapt infection control measures and estimate the degree of underreporting. Blood donor samples can be used as a proxy for the healthy adult population. In a repeated cross-sectional study from April 2020 to April 2021, September 2021, and April/May 2022, 13 blood establishments collected 134,510 anonymised specimens from blood donors in 28 study regions across Germany. These were tested for antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and nucleocapsid, including neutralising capacity. Seroprevalence was adjusted for test performance and sampling and weighted for demographic differences between the sample and the general population. Seroprevalence estimates were compared to notified COVID-19 cases. The overall adjusted SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence remained below 2% until December 2020 and increased to 18.1% in April 2021, 89.4% in September 2021, and to 100% in April/May 2022. Neutralising capacity was found in 74% of all positive specimens until April 2021 and in 98% in April/May 2022. Our serosurveillance allowed for repeated estimations of underreporting from the early stage of the pandemic onwards. Underreporting ranged between factors 5.1 and 1.1 in the first two waves of the pandemic and remained well below 2 afterwards, indicating an adequate test strategy and notification system in Germany.

AB - SARS-CoV-2 serosurveillance is important to adapt infection control measures and estimate the degree of underreporting. Blood donor samples can be used as a proxy for the healthy adult population. In a repeated cross-sectional study from April 2020 to April 2021, September 2021, and April/May 2022, 13 blood establishments collected 134,510 anonymised specimens from blood donors in 28 study regions across Germany. These were tested for antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and nucleocapsid, including neutralising capacity. Seroprevalence was adjusted for test performance and sampling and weighted for demographic differences between the sample and the general population. Seroprevalence estimates were compared to notified COVID-19 cases. The overall adjusted SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence remained below 2% until December 2020 and increased to 18.1% in April 2021, 89.4% in September 2021, and to 100% in April/May 2022. Neutralising capacity was found in 74% of all positive specimens until April 2021 and in 98% in April/May 2022. Our serosurveillance allowed for repeated estimations of underreporting from the early stage of the pandemic onwards. Underreporting ranged between factors 5.1 and 1.1 in the first two waves of the pandemic and remained well below 2 afterwards, indicating an adequate test strategy and notification system in Germany.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85154599726&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/pathogens12040551

DO - 10.3390/pathogens12040551

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85154599726

SN - 2076-0817

VL - 12

JO - Pathogens

JF - Pathogens

IS - 4

M1 - 551

ER -

Monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Prevalence of Antibodies in a Large, Repetitive Cross-Sectional Study of Blood Donors in Germany—Results from the SeBluCo Study 2020–2022

Abstract

Research Areas and Centers

DFG Research Classification Scheme

Coronavirus related work

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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