1. Prevalence of COVID-19 in Iran: results of the first survey of the Iranian COVID-19 Serological Surveillance programme
- Author
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Safoora Gharibzadeh, Jafar Sadegh Tabrizi, Afshin Ostovar, Maryam Mir-Mohammad-Ali Roodaki, Kayhan Azadmanesh, Saeid Namaki, Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi, Siamak Mirab Samiee, Kazem Khalagi, Alireza Raeisi, Davood Khalili, Katayoun Tayeri, Kazem Mohammad, Mohammad Ali Mansournia, Firoozeh Hajipour, Hengameh Namdari Tabar, and Saeide Aghamohamadi
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Microbiology (medical) ,Adolescent ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,030106 microbiology ,Population ,Primary health care ,Seroprevalence ,Target population ,Iran ,Population-based ,Antibodies, Viral ,Serology ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Seroepidemiologic Studies ,Sampling design ,Prevalence ,Humans ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ,Medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,education ,education.field_of_study ,business.industry ,COVID-19 ,General Medicine ,Middle Aged ,Stratified sampling ,Infectious Diseases ,Nationwide ,Immunoglobulin G ,Female ,Original Article ,business ,Demography - Abstract
Objectives This study aims to estimate the prevalence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the general population of Iran. Methods The target population was all Iranian people aged 6 years and older in the country. A stratified random sampling design was used to select 28 314 people from among the individuals registered in the electronic health record systems used in primary health care in Iran. Venous blood was taken from each participant and tested for the IgG antibody against COVID-19. The prevalence of COVID-19 was estimated at provincial and national levels after adjusting for the measurement error of the laboratory test, non-response bias and sampling design. Results Of the 28 314 Iranians selected, 11 256 (39.75%) participated in the study. Of these, 5406 (48.0%) were male and 6851 (60.9%) lived in urban areas. The mean (standard deviation) participant age was 35.89 (18.61) years. The adjusted prevalence of COVID-19 until 20 August 2020 was estimated as 14.2% (95% uncertainty interval 13.3%–15.2%), which was equal to 11 958 346 (95% CI 11 211 011–12 746 776) individuals. The adjusted prevalences of infection were 14.6%, 13.8%, 16.6%, 11.7% and 19.4% among men, women, urban population, rural population and individuals aged 60 years or more, respectively. Ardabil, Golestan and Khuzestan provinces had the highest prevalence and Alborz, Hormozgan and Kerman provinces had the lowest. Conclusions Based on the study results, a large proportion of the Iranian population had not yet been infected by COVID-19. The observance of hygienic principles and social restrictions should therefore continue until the majority of the population has been vaccinated.
- Published
- 2021
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