RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Seropositivity and risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in a South Asian community in Ontario: a cross-sectional analysis of a prospective cohort study
JF CMAJ Open
JO CMAJ
FD Canadian Medical Association
SP E599
OP E609
DO 10.9778/cmajo.20220031
VO 10
IS 3
A1 Anand, Sonia S.
A1 Arnold, Corey
A1 Bangdiwala, Shrikant I.
A1 Bolotin, Shelly
A1 Bowdish, Dawn
A1 Chanchlani, Rahul
A1 de Souza, Russell J.
A1 Desai, Dipika
A1 Kandasamy, Sujane
A1 Khan, Farah
A1 Khan, Zainab
A1 Langlois, Marc-André
A1 Limbachia, Jayneel
A1 Lear, Scott A.
A1 Loeb, Mark
A1 Loh, Lawrence
A1 Manoharan, Baanu
A1 Nakka, Kiran
A1 Pelchat, Martin
A1 Punthakee, Zubin
A1 Schulze, Karleen M.
A1 Williams, Natalie
A1 Wahi, Gita
YR 2022
UL http://www.cmajopen.ca/content/10/3/E599.abstract
AB Background: Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the South Asian community in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) was identified as having risk factors for exposure and specific barriers to accessing testing and reliable health information, rendering them particularly vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection. We sought to investigate the burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection among South Asian people in the GTA, and to characterize the demographic characteristics, risk perceptions and trusted sources of health information in this group.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis from the baseline assessment of participants in a prospective cohort study. Participants from the GTA were enrolled from Apr. 14 to July 28, 2021. Seropositivity for antispike and antinucleocapsid antibodies was determined from dried blood spots, and estimates of seropositivity were age and sex standardized to the South Asian population in Ontario. Demographic characteristics, risk perceptions and sources of COVID-19 information were collected via questionnaire and reported descriptively.Results: Among the 916 South Asian participants enrolled (mean age 41 yr), the age- and sex-standardized seropositivity was 23.6% (95% confidence interval 20.8%–26.4%). Of the 693 respondents to the questionnaire, 228 (32.9%) identified as essential workers, and 125 (19.1%) reported living in a multigenerational household. A total of 288 (49.4%) perceived that they were at high COVID-19 risk owing to their geographic location, and 149 (34.3%) owing to their type of employment. The top 3 most trusted sources of information related to COVID-19 included health care providers and public health, traditional media sources and social media.Interpretation: By the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, about one-quarter of a sample of South Asian individuals in Ontario had serologic evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Insight into factors that put certain populations at risk can help future pandemic planning and disease control efforts.