Evaluating the Diagnostic Performance of Covid-19 Serological Assays with Sars-Cov-2 in a Healthcare Setting in Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Nigeria

Download Article

DOI: 10.21522/TIJNR.2015.09.01.Art004

Authors : Kefas IB, Abdurrahman S, Adeyemi O, Gadzama Apagu D, Jose Dominguez, Luis E. Cuevas

Abstract:

Covid-19 is one of the most lethal infections, causing a global pandemic. An alternative serological test was developed in response to the increased demand for Covid 19 diagnosis. This study compared the diagnostic performance of Saytul and Global Access to the gold standard (Sars-COV-2) in Abuja, Nigeria. The diagnostic performance of Covid-19 serological assays was determined in a cross-sectional study (Saytul and Global access). All three tertiary health facilities in the FCT, as well as the Zankli Research Center, were purposefully chosen as Covid-19 referral laboratories, and all of the institutions selected provide medical student training. Quota sampling was used in the study. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 23.0, with statistical significance set at p<0.005. Eight hundred and six respondents participated in the study. Most of the respondents (71%) were age 16-30 years. The positivity rate is higher SarCov2 compared to Saytul and Global Access. Saytul shows a sensitivity of 47.2% and specificity of 98.0% while Global access shows a sensitivity of 43.8% and specificity of 98.0%. There was a statistically significant difference in the results between SarCOV2 PCR and Saytul (p=0.001) and Global Access (p=0.001). We discovered that the serological tests have low sensitivity but high specificity. Low sensitivity has implications for missing cases, which could lead to further infection spread. With improved technology and understanding of the virus, highly accurate and effective tests to help prevent coronavirus infection can be made available.
Keywords: Serological test, Covid 19, Sensitivity, Specificity.

References:

[1] Cucinotta D, Vanelli M. WHO Declares Covid-19 a Pandemic. Acta Biomed. 2020;91(1):157–60.

[2] World Health Organization. Archived: WHO Timeline - Covid-19. World Health Organization (WHO). 2020.

[3] Olum R, Chekwech G, Wekha G, Nassozi D. R, Bongomin F. Coronavirus Disease-2019: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Health Care Workers at Makerere University Teaching Hospitals, Uganda. Front Public Heal. 2020 Apr 30;8.

[4] Labban L, Thallaj N, Labban A. Assessing the Level of Awareness and Knowledge of Covid 19 Pandemic among Syrians. Arch Med [Internet]. 2020 Apr 30 [cited 2021 Sep 7];12(3):8. Available from: https://www.archivesofmedicine.com/medicine/assessing-the-level-of-awareness-and-knowledge-of-Covid-19-pandemicamong-syrians.php?aid=26894.

[5] Kabito G. G, Alemayehu M, Mekonnen T. H, Wami S.        D, Azanaw J, Adane T, et al. Community’s perceived high risk of coronavirus infections during early phase of epidemics are significantly influenced by socio-demographic background, in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia: A cross-sectional -study. PLoS One [Internet]. 2020 Nov 1 [cited 2021 Sep 13];15(11): e0242654. Available from: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0242654.

[6] WHO. Coronavirus [Internet]. [cited 2022 Dec 29]. Available from: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_3.

[7] Atnafie S. A, Anteneh D. A, Yimenu D. K, Kifle Z. D. Assessment of exposure risks to Covid-19 among frontline health care workers in Amhara Region, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional survey. PLoS One [Internet]. 2021 Apr 1 [cited 2021 Sep 10];16(4): e0251000. Available from: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0251000.

[8] Olum R, Chekwech G, Wekha G, Nassozi D. R, Bongomin F. Coronavirus Disease-2019: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Health Care Workers at Makerere University Teaching Hospitals, Uganda. Front Public Heal. 2020 Apr 30; 0:181.

[9] Akyala A. I, Awayimbo J. R, Ogo AC, Chima NJ, Billyrose OMA, Engom AOG. Clinical diagnostic performance evaluation of five immunoassays for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis in a real-life routine care setting. Pan Afr Med J [Internet]. 2021 May 3 [cited 2022 Dec 28]; 39:3–3. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8197056.

[10] Woo PCY, Lau SKP, Wong BHL, Chan KH, Chu CM, Tsoi HW, et al. Longitudinal Profile of Immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgM, and IgA Antibodies against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Protein in Patients with Pneumonia Due to the SARS Coronavirus. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol [Internet]. 2004 Jul [cited 2022 Dec 29];11(4):665. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC440610/.

[11] Gong F, Wei HX, Li Q, Liu L, Li B. Evaluation and Comparison of Serological Methods for Covid-19 Diagnosis. Front Mol Biosci. 2021 Jul 23; 8:683.

[12] Yüce M, Filiztekin E, Özkaya KG. Covid-19 diagnosis —A review of current methods. Biosens Bioelectron. 2021;172.

[13] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Covid-19 Overview and Infection Prevention and Control Priorities in non-U.S. Healthcare Settings. 2021.

[14] World Health Organization (WHO). WHO lists two Covid-19 tests for emergency use. News. 2020.

[15] World Health Organization (WHO). Advice on the use of point-of-care immunodiagnostic tests for Covid-19. Scientific Brief. 2020.

[16] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Overview of testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Cdc.Gov. 2022.

[17] Elleh N. Abuja: the single most ambitious urban design project of the 20th century. New World Encycl [Internet]. 2001 [cited 2021 Sep 13]; 97. Available from: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Abuja.

[18] Federal Capital Development Agency. Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria) [Internet]. City Population; [cited 2021 Sep 13]. Available from: http://www.citypopulation.de/php/nigeria-admin.php?adm1id=NGA015.

[19] Brihn A, Chang J, OYong K, Balter S, Terashita D, Rubin Z, et al. Diagnostic performance of an antigen test with RT-PCR for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in a hospital setting —Los Angeles County, California, June–August 2020. MMWR Recomm Reports. 2021;70(19):702–6.

[20] Clinical diagnostic performance evaluation of five immunoassays for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis in a real-life routine care setting. | Pan Afr Med J; 39:3, 2021. | MEDLINE [Internet]. [cited 2022 Dec 28]. Available from: https://search.bvsalud.org/global-literature-on-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov/resource/es/covidwho-1264683.

[21] Zhang H, Wu Y, He Y, Liu X, Liu M, Tang Y, et al. Age-Related Risk Factors and Complications of Patients with Covid-19: A Population-Based Retrospective Study. Front Med [Internet]. 2022 Jan 11 [cited 2023 May 4];8. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35087843/.

[22] Mueller AL, Mcnamara MS, Sinclair DA. Why does Covid-19 disproportionately affect older people? Aging (Albany NY) [Internet]. 2020 May 5 [cited 2023 May 4];12(10):9959. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7288963/.

[23] Lawal AM, Alhassan EO, Mogaji HO, Odoh IM, Essien EA. Differential effect of gender, marital status, religion, ethnicity, education, and employment status on mental health during Covid-19 lockdown in Nigeria. https://doi.org/101080/1354850620201865548 [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2023 Mar 21];27(1):1–12. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13548506.2020.1865548.

[24] Dowd JB, Andriano L, Brazel DM, Rotondi V, Block P, Ding X, et al. Demographic science aids in understanding the spread and fatality rates of Covid-19. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 May 5;117(18):9696–8.