Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG Seroprevalence in Tyrol, Austria, among 28,768 Blood Donors between May 2022 and March 2023

• Published in: Vaccines (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 3; p. 284
• Main Authors: Siller, Anita, Seekircher, Lisa, Astl, Manfred, Tschiderer, Lena, Wachter, Gregor A., Penz, Julia, Pfeifer, Bernhard, Huber, Andreas, Gaber, Manfred, Schennach, Harald, Willeit, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.03.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Antibodies; Binomial distribution; Blood; Blood & organ donations; Blood donors; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Epidemiology; Health aspects; IgG antibody; Immunoglobulin G; Infections; Mean; Nucleocapsid IgG antibodies; Nucleocapsids; Pandemics; Population; Questionnaires; SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies; Serology; seroprevalence; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Spike IgG antibodies; Vaccination; Austria; Ireland; COVID-19; Nucleocapsid IgG antibodies; seroprevalence; blood donors; SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies; Spike IgG antibodies
• ISSN: 2076-393X; 2076-393X
• DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12030284

Background: To provide updated estimates on SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence and average antibody titres for Central Europe. Methods: In repeat cross-sectional investigations (1 May 2022 to 9 March 2023) involving 28,768 blood donors in the Federal State of Tyrol, Austria (participation rate: 87.0%), we measured Spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) and Nucleocapsid IgG antibodies (37,065 and 12,645 samples), and estimated monthly seroprevalences and geometric mean titres. Results: Median age of participants was 45.4 years (range 18–70); 43.2% were female. Spike RBD IgG antibody seroprevalence was 96.3% (95% CI: 95.6–96.9%) in May 2022, 97.4% (96.7–98.0%) in December 2022, and 97.9% (96.4–98.8%) in March 2023. Among seropositive participants, geometric mean titres increased from 1400 BAU/mL (95% CI: 1333–1471) in May 2022 to 1821 BAU/mL (1717–1932) in December 2022, and dropped to 1559 BAU/mL (1405–1729) by March 2023. Furthermore, titres differed markedly by vaccination status and history of infection, with being the highest in participants with booster vaccination and prior infection. In autumn 2022, Nucleocapsid IgG antibody seroprevalence ranged from 36.5% (35.0–38.1) in September to 39.2% (37.2–41.2) in December 2022. Conclusion: Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in blood donors from Tyrol, Austria, was remarkably stable from May 2022 to March 2023. In contrast, average Spike RBD IgG antibody titres peaked in December 2022.