Community Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in NW London (COM-SARS-2) [COVID-19]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Community Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in NW London (COM-SARS-2): Historical study using stored maternal booking serum samples
IRAS ID
286230
Contact name
Edward WS Mullins
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 28 days
Research summary
There is uncertainty as to when the first person in the UK was infected with SARs-CoV-2 and when community transmission (person to person rather than travellers from affected regions) began. A limiting factor in determining the true number of SARS-CoV-2 infections is the unknown number and location of asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic individuals. These individuals would not be detected by targeted diagnostic viral testing (COVID-19 Swab) as this is largely used for symptomatic individuals. SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing is now available in the UK. Current serosurveillance (studies of presence of antibodies to a virus) uses largely random sampling of the population and gives little information on the spread of infection over time in different groups of people. \n\nWhen trying to understand how the pandemic spread in London we have identified a ready source of pre-existing samples for analysis. Around 630,000 women a year give birth in England, 29,500 in NW London. At booking for their antenatal care, a sample of serum is routinely taken and stored locally for 2 years for use in cases of suspected congenital infection. These samples are valuable primarily because of the insights they give us to community transmission risks over the course of the pandemic, rather than the risks that individual first-trimester pregnant women have been exposed to. However, seroprevalence in this group would also inform policy on the management of pregnant women in a future wave of the pandemic and would, when coupled with population surveillance data and our own, Imperial-led, NIHR-funded, PAN-COVID registry of pregnancy and COVID-19 inform improved estimates of COVID-linked infection complication and infection fatality rates.
REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
20/NI/0107
Date of REC Opinion
28 Jul 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion