COVID-19 cross-sectional study in Maricá, Brazil: The impact of vaccination coverage on viral incidence

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 17; no. 9; p. e0269011
• Main Authors: Frauches, Thiago Silva, Costa, Carlos Alberto de Senna, Rodrigues, Claudia dos Santos, de Azevedo, Marcelo Costa Velho Mendes, Ferreira, Michelle de Moraes, Ramos, Hanna Beatriz Vieira da Silva, de Souza Junior, Wilson Rodrigues, Costa, Andréa Ribeiro, Camargo, Adriana Cardoso, Alonso, Adriana Halfeld, dos Santos, Fábio Álvaro, Oliveira, Hércules da Silva, Coelho, Janaína Guimarães, Sobral, Joyce Florentina da Silva, Rodrigues, Luciane Cardoso dos Santos, Ferreira, Marcio Martins Casaes, Laureano, Patricia, da Paz Fernandes, Raquel Adalgiza, Santos, Renata da Silva, dos Santos, Rose Mary Carvalho, Milagres, Sanderson, dos Santos, Vanessa Cristina Conceição, Silva, Jussara Teixeira, da Silva, Tatiana Martins, da Rocha, Malu Gabriela Costa, de São Carlos, Andreia Edwirges, de Araújo Ramos, Amorim Mourão, Bastos, Fernanda Martins de Almeida, Francisco, Daina Raylle, Rosa, Sabrina dos Santos, Linhares, Layla Corrêa, Organista, Raissa Rodrigues, Bastos, Leandro, Pinto, Maria Magdalena Kelly, do Nascimento, Jean Pablo Lima, da Silveira, João Pedro Moura, dos Santos, Mateus Quintanilha, da Silva, Nathaly Santos, Ferreira, Nayra Cristina dos Santos, Reis, Rafael Brito Ramirez, de Oliveira, Ruan Fonseca, Sá, Valdinei de Oliveira, Hammes, Thyago Ramos de Siqueira, Monteiro, Juliano de Oliveira, Cardoso, Pedro Henrique, Arruda, Mônica Barcellos, Alvarez, Patricia, Maia, Richard Araujo, Ribeiro, Liane de Jesus, Ferreira, Orlando Costa, Santos, Aline, de Almeida, Alberto Carlos Melo, Garcia, Lauro, Pansera, Celso, Tanuri, Amilcar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 19.09.2022; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Antibodies; Biology and Life Sciences; Consent; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Cross-sectional studies; Ethics; Health surveillance; Herd immunity; Households; Immunization; Immunoassay; Immunoglobulin G; Immunology; Medical supplies; Medicine and Health Sciences; Pandemics; People and places; Planning; Questionnaires; Research and Analysis Methods; Serology; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Sociodemographics; Vaccines; Viral diseases; Brazil; Rio de Janeiro Brazil; United States > US; Latin America
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269011

Population surveillance in COVID-19 Pandemic is crucial to follow up the pace of disease and its related immunological status. Here we present a cross-sectional study done in Maricá, a seaside town close to the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Three rounds of study sampling, enrolling a total of 1134 subjects, were performed during May to August 2021. Here we show that the number of individuals carrying detectable IgG antibodies and the neutralizing antibody (NAb) levels were greater in vaccinated groups compared to unvaccinated ones, highlighting the importance of vaccination to attain noticeable levels of populational immunity against SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, we found a decreased incidence of COVID-19 throughout the study, clearly correlated with the level of vaccinated individuals as well as the proportion of individuals with detectable levels of IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 and NAb. The observed drop occurred even during the introduction of the Delta variant in Maricá, what suggests that the vaccination slowed down the widespread transmission of this variant. Overall, our data clearly support the use of vaccines to drop the incidence associated to SARS-CoV-2.