Seroprevalence of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in the general population of Nepal during the first and second generalized waves of the COVID‐19 pandemic—2020–2021

• Published in: Influenza and other respiratory viruses Vol. 17; no. 12; pp. e13234 - n/a
• Main Authors: Paudel, Krishna Prasad, Samuel, Reuben, Jha, Runa, Pandey, Basu Dev, Edirisuriya, Chathura, Shrestha, Nebin Lal, Gyawali, Pradip, Pokhrel, Amrit, Shrestha, Lilee, Mahato, Ram Kumar, Hossain, Shaikh Shah, Arunkumar, Govindakarnavar, Bose, Anindya Sekhar, Dhimal, Meghnath, Gautam, Dipendra, Neupane, Subash, Thakur, Nishant, Shrestha, Saugat, Bhusal, Nirajan, Jha, Priya, Gupta, Binod Prasad, Rayamajhi, Rajan Bikram, Subedi, Koshal Chandra, Kandel, Shashi, Poudel, Mukesh, Thapa, Lila Bikram, Sharma, Guna Nidhi, Gocotano, Allison Eugenio, Sunny, Avinash K., Gautam, Rabin, Bhatta, Deepak Raj, Awale, Bal Krishna, Roka, Bhola, Ojha, Hemant Chandra, Baral, Phanindra, Adhikari, Mahendra Dhose, Lohani, Guna Raj, Shrestha, Mahendra, Singh, Dipendra Raman, Aryal, Laxman, Pandav, Rajesh Sambhajirao, Pokhrel, Roshan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.12.2023; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 Vaccines; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Female; Households; Humans; Immunization; Infections; Informed consent; Laboratories; Male; Mountains; Nepal; Nepal - epidemiology; Original; pandemic; Pandemics; Phlebotomy; Population; Provinces; Public health; Questionnaires; Response rates; Risk assessment; Risk factors; Sample size; Sampling; SARS-CoV-2; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Serology; seroprevalence; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Vaccination; Viral diseases; Nepal; China; India; COVID-19; seroprevalence; SARS-CoV-2; pandemic; Nepal
• ISSN: 1750-2640; 1750-2659; 1750-2659
• DOI: 10.1111/irv.13234

Few seroprevalence studies have been conducted on coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) in Nepal. Here, we aimed to estimate seroprevalence and assess risk factors for infection in the general population of Nepal by conducting two rounds of sampling. The first round was in October 2020, at the peak of the first generalized wave of COVID‐19, and the second round in July–August 2021, following the peak of the wave caused by the delta variant of SARS‐CoV‐2. We used cross‐sectional probability‐to‐size (PPS)‐based multistage cluster sampling to estimate the seroprevalence in the general population of Nepal at the national and provincial levels. We tested for anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 total antibody using the WANTAI SARS‐CoV‐2 Ab ELISA kit. In Round 1, the overall national seroprevalence was 14.4%, with provincial estimates ranging from 5.3% in Sudurpaschim to 27.3% in Madhesh Province. In Round 2, the estimated national seroprevalence was 70.7%, with the highest in the Madhesh Province (84.8%) and the lowest in the Gandaki Province (62.9%). Seroprevalence was comparable between males and females (Round 1, 15.8% vs. 12.2% and Round 2, 72.3% vs. 68.7%). The seroprevalence in the ecozones—Terai, hills, and mountains—was 76.3%, 65.3%, and 60.5% in Round 2 and 17.7%, 11.7%, and 4.6% in Round 1, respectively. In Nepal, COVID‐19 vaccination was introduced in January 2021. At the peak of the first generalized wave of COVID‐19, most of the population of Nepal remained unexposed to SARS‐CoV‐2. Towards the end of the second generalized wave in April 2021, two thirds of the population was exposed.