SEROPREVALENCE OF COVID-19 AMONG STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

ABSTRACT

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This study is designed to identify SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and incidence rate regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms in the host around the time of acute infection. The methodolgy involved a longitudinal prospective cohort study, to examine the effect of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity on the risk of developing SARS-CoV2 infection in university students, using the University of Benin, Benin City as a case study. A total of 591 students participated in the CIPRUS study, while 586 were tested. 53.2% of the total population were males, constituting the majority of the participants. The study included sociodemographic of the students from various faculties. Of the 78 students from the Faculty of Agriculture, 44 (56.4%) reported sharing facilities in their accommodation, and regarding the SARS-CoV-2 IgG positivity, 67 (85.9) tested positive, suggesting a previous infection. However, the association between students not wearing facemask in school (and/or) sharing facilities in accommodation and the SARS-CoV-2 IgG positivity was not statistically significant as indicated by the P-value of 0.210 and 0.602 respectively. This finding is significant on a university campus because if a large of the population has asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic infections, seroprevalence estimation studies may underestimate the disease’s prior incidence. More research should be focused on studying SARS-CoV-2 in animal models to better understand replication, transmission, and pathogenesis in humans.