Drug Discov Ther. 2022;16(4):185-190. (DOI: 10.5582/ddt.2022.01048)

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among university athletic club members: A cross-sectional survey

Mori Y, Tanaka M, Kozai H, Hotta K, Aoyama Y, Shigeno Y, Aoike M, Kawamura H, Tsurudome M, Ito M

School-based coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing is an important part of a comprehensive prevention strategy in public health. To assess the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies in a university athletic club community with repeated occurrences of SARS-CoV-2 infections, we conducted a cross-sectional survey for asymptomatic antibody prevalence using a SARS-CoV-2 rapid antibody test kit. On January 26, 2021 we administered questionnaires to determine their history of contact with infected individuals and took blood samples from 129 undergraduates. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among the subjects was 3.9%. Only 6.2% of the participants reported close contact with infected individuals. In this study, we clarified the prevalence of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in university athletic clubs where SARS-CoV-2 infections had repeatedly occurred, which will be helpful in discussing how to identify and prevent the transmission of infections within university athletic club communities.

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