SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence Among Parturient Women

Abstract SARS-CoV-2 has led to a pandemic of respiratory and multisystem disease, named COVID-19.1 Limited data are available for pregnant women affected by COVID-19.2 Serological tests, particularly those that provide quantitative information, are critically important to determine exposure and immunity to SARS-CoV-2 within both individuals and populations.3 Here, we completed SARS-CoV-2 serological testing of 237 parturient women at two centers in Philadelphia from April 4 to April 15, 2020. Using an assay with a 1.0% false positive rate, we show that 14/237 (5.9%) of parturient women possessed IgG and/or IgM SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies. We found significant racial differences, with an 11.2% seropositive rate in black women and a 1.5% seropositive rate in women of other races. Seropositive women who received nasopharyngeal (NP) SARS-CoV-2 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing were all found to be positive. Continued serologic surveillance among pregnant women may inform perinatal clinical practices and can potentially be used to estimate seroprevalence within the community.Authors Dustin D. Flannery and Sigrid Gouma contributed equally to this work.