SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence, titres and neutralising activity in an antenatal cohort, United Kingdom, 14 April to 15 June 2020
Lumley SF., Eyre DW., McNaughton AL., Howarth A., Hoosdally S., Hatch SB., Kavanagh J., Chau KK., Downs LO., Cox S., Dunn L., Justice A., Wareing S., Dingle K., Rudkin J., Auckland K., Fyfe A., Bolton J., Paton R., Mentzer AJ., Jeffery K., Andersson MI., James T., Peto TEA., Marsden BD., Screaton G., Cornall RJ., Klenerman P., Ebner D., Stuart DI., Crook DW., Stoesser N., Kennedy SH., Thompson C., Gupta S., Matthews PC.
SARS-CoV-2 IgG screening of 1,000 antenatal serum samples in the Oxford area, United Kingdom, between 14 April and 15 June 2020, yielded a 5.3% seroprevalence, mirroring contemporaneous regional data. Among the 53 positive samples, 39 showed in vitro neutralisation activity, correlating with IgG titre (Pearson’s correlation p<0.0001). While SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in pregnancy cohorts could potentially inform population surveillance, clinical correlates of infection and immunity in pregnancy, and antenatal epidemiology evolution over time need further study.