Int J Equity Health . High prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody in the Xikrin of Bacaj? (Kayap?) indigenous population in the brazilian Amazon

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Int J Equity Health


. 2021 Jan 28;20(1):50.
doi: 10.1186/s12939-021-01392-8.
High prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody in the Xikrin of Bacaj? (Kayap?) indigenous population in the brazilian Amazon


Eliene Putira Sacuema Rodrigues ¹ , Isabella Nogueira Abreu ² , Carlos Neandro Cordeiro Lima ² , Dennyson Leandro Mathias da Fonseca ¹ , S?vio Felipe Gomes Pereira ³ , Laena Costa Dos Reis ⁴ , Izaura Maria Vieira Cayres Vallinoto ² , Jo?o Farias Guerreiro ^{# 1} , Antonio Carlos Ros?rio Vallinoto ^{# 5}



Affiliations

• PMID: 33509206
• DOI: 10.1186/s12939-021-01392-8

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reached the Brazilian Amazon and spread among indigenous populations. In the present study, we demonstrate a high prevalence of infection among the Xikrin of Bacaj? people (Kayap?). A sample of 100 individuals of both sexes (51 men and 49 women) with ages ranging from 2 to 82 years were clinically evaluated and tested for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody. Among all investigated individuals, 58 were IgG-reactive (58 %) by a rapid test, and 73 (73 %) were reactive in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, with no difference between sexes. Oxygen saturation ranged from 82 to 99 %, with the lowest value observed in a two-year-old girl. The results show that as expected, SARS-CoV-2 infection rapidly reached more than 70 % of the population, most likely because of the difficulties of maintaining social distance due to cultural characteristics. These results highlight the importance of indigenous health policies as a means of minimizing the impact of the pandemic on these communities.

Keywords: Amazonia; COVID-19; Indigenous peoples; Xikrin.