| Title | Differences in seroprevalence between epicenter and non-epicenter areas of the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea |
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| Author | Hye Won Jeong1,2, Hyun-Ha Chang3, Eun Ji Kim4, Yu Kyung Kim5, Se-Mi Kim4, Eun-Ha Kim4, Young-Il Kim4, Mark Anthony B. Casel4, Seong-Gyu Kim4, Rare Rollon4, Seung-Gyu Jang4, Kwang-Min Yu4, Hee-Sung Kim2, Hee Sue Park6, Su-Jin Park7, Yong-Dae Kim8,9, Eung-Gook Kim4, and Young Ki Choi4 |
| Address | 1Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea, 2Department of Internal Medicine, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea, 3Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea, 4College of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea, 5Department of Clinical Pathology, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea, 6Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea, 7Division of Life Science and Research Institute of Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Republic of Korea, 8Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University College of Medicine, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea, 9Chungbuk Regional Cancer Center, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea |
| Bibliography | Journal of Microbiology, 59(5),530–533, 2021, |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12275-021-1095-7 |
| Key Words | SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, epicenter, seroprevalence, South Korea |
| Abstract | To compare the standardized severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence of high epicenter region with non-epicenter region, serological studies were performed with a total of 3,268 sera from Daegu City and 3,981 sera from Chungbuk Province. Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) for SARS-CoV-2 IgG results showed a high seroprevalence rate in the Daegu City (epicenter) compared with a non-epicenter area (Chungbuk Province) (1.27% vs. 0.91%, P = 0.0358). It is noteworthy that the highest seroprevalence in Daegu City was found in elderly patients (70’s) whereas young adult patients (20’s) in Chungbuk Province showed the highest seroprevalence. Neutralizing antibody (NAb) titers were found in three samples from Daegu City (3/3, 268, 0.09%) while none of the samples from Chungbuk Province were NAb positive. These results demonstrated that even following the large outbreak, the seropositive rate of SARS-CoV-2 in the general population remained low in South Korea. |