ESTUDO SOROEPIDEMIOLÓGICO DA INFECÇÃO POR SARS-CoV-2 EM POVOS INDÍGENAS DO ESTADO DO PARÁ
Indigenous. COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2. Seroepidemiology. Amazon
“Coronavirus 2 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome” (SARS-CoV-2) is the etiological agent of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019), a respiratory disease that exhibits a global increase in the number of cases and deaths, which one day found- classified as a pandemic. The spread of COVID-19 in Brazil affects the entire national territory, causing serious damage to the most vulnerable population groups. In this sense, indigenous populations require special attention in terms of basic health, being potential targets of seroepidemiological studies. Given the applicability of serological markers in the epidemiological investigation of indigenous peoples, the present study carried out a cross-sectional study to investigate the prevalence of antibodies. Plasma was tested for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG antibodies using two assays (a rapid lateral flow test and an ELISA). A total of 1185 subjects of both sexes were included in the study. The populations described in the study's seroepidemiological assessment were: Munduruku, Parakanã, Assurini, Xikrin do Bacajá, Araweté and Karararo. The prevalence of IgM and IgG antibodies were 6.9% and 68.1%, respectively, ranging from 0% to 79.6%, with significant differences (p<0.001) between age groups in three communities (Araweté, Xikrin and Munduruku) and a virulence rate of 0.86%. The general prevalence of IgG obtained by rapid test and ELISA was similar, and the agreement of the results between the two tests was 80%, classified as good (kappa=0.4987; p<0.001; sensitivity of 82.1% and specificity of 71.6% SARS-CoV-2 spread rapidly among the investigated indigenous populations, but had a low mortality rate.It is necessary to expand serological investigations to other communities in the Amazon region of Brazil.