Seroprevalence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in an Italian cohort in Marche Region, Italy

Background and aim: The COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization. In this study, we evaluated the sero-conversion of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies to find predictors of infection in terms of symptoms, health status, and professions. Methods: Serological samples of 341 volunteers in a cohort in Marche Region, Italy, were analyzed for the presence of IgM and/or IgG immunoglobulins specific for the SARS-CoV-2. Contextually, an anamnestic questionnaire was administered. The binary logistic regression analysis was used to find the predictors of seroconversion. Results: Forty-nine subjects (14.4 %) were found positive, without significant differences between gender and age groups. The predictors identified inside the variable categories “symp-toms,” “risk factors” (smoking habit and established pathologies), and “professions” were the loss of taste and smell (OR, 8.563), cardiovascular diseases (OR, 2.912), and police officers profession (OR, 3.875), respec-tively. Conclusions: Although the limited number of subjects recruited in this study, our results could give important findings to be considered for planning preventive strategies in the view of the next COVID-19 waves. (www.actabiomedica.it)