TY - JOUR
T1 - High prevalence of symptoms among Brazilian subjects with antibodies against SARS-CoV-2
AU - Menezes, Ana M.B.
AU - Victora, Cesar G.
AU - Hartwig, Fernando P.
AU - Silveira, Mariângela F.
AU - Horta, Bernardo L.
AU - Barros, Aluísio J.D.
AU - Mesenburg, Marilia A.
AU - Wehrmeister, Fernando C.
AU - Pellanda, Lúcia C.
AU - Dellagostin, Odir A.
AU - Struchiner, Cláudio J.
AU - Burattini, Marcelo N.
AU - Barros, Fernando C.
AU - Hallal, Pedro C.
N1 - Funding Information:
The study was funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, Instituto Serrapilheira, Brazilian Collective Health Association (ABRASCO) and the JBS S.A. initiative ‘Fazer o Bem Faz Bem’.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Since the beginning of the pandemic of COVID-19, there has been a widespread assumption that most infected persons are asymptomatic. Using data from the recent wave of the EPICOVID19 study, a nationwide household-based survey including 133 cities from all states of Brazil, we estimated the proportion of people with and without antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 who were asymptomatic, which symptoms were most frequently reported, number of symptoms and the association with socio-demographic characteristics. We tested 33,205 subjects using a rapid antibody test previously validated. Information was collected before participants received the test result. Out of 849 (2.7%) participants positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, only 12.1% (95% CI 10.1–14.5) reported no symptoms, compared to 42.2% (95% CI 41.7–42.8) among those negative. The largest difference between the two groups was observed for changes in smell/taste (56.5% versus 9.1%, a 6.2-fold difference). Changes in smell/taste, fever and body aches were most likely to predict positive tests as suggested by recursive partitioning tree analysis. Among individuals without any of these three symptoms, only 0.8% tested positive, compared to 18.3% of those with both fever and changes in smell or taste. Most subjects with antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are symptomatic, even though most present only mild symptoms.
AB - Since the beginning of the pandemic of COVID-19, there has been a widespread assumption that most infected persons are asymptomatic. Using data from the recent wave of the EPICOVID19 study, a nationwide household-based survey including 133 cities from all states of Brazil, we estimated the proportion of people with and without antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 who were asymptomatic, which symptoms were most frequently reported, number of symptoms and the association with socio-demographic characteristics. We tested 33,205 subjects using a rapid antibody test previously validated. Information was collected before participants received the test result. Out of 849 (2.7%) participants positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, only 12.1% (95% CI 10.1–14.5) reported no symptoms, compared to 42.2% (95% CI 41.7–42.8) among those negative. The largest difference between the two groups was observed for changes in smell/taste (56.5% versus 9.1%, a 6.2-fold difference). Changes in smell/taste, fever and body aches were most likely to predict positive tests as suggested by recursive partitioning tree analysis. Among individuals without any of these three symptoms, only 0.8% tested positive, compared to 18.3% of those with both fever and changes in smell or taste. Most subjects with antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are symptomatic, even though most present only mild symptoms.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41598-021-92775-y
DO - 10.1038/s41598-021-92775-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 34168250
AN - SCOPUS:85108904838
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 11
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 13279
ER -