Using serological studies to assess COVID-19 infection fatality rate in developing countries: A case study from one Colombian department

Nelson Alvis Guzman; Fernando De la Hoz Restrepo; Hector Serrano-Coll; Bertha Gastelbondo; Salim Mattar

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2021.06.018

Using serological studies to assess COVID-19 infection fatality rate in developing countries: A case study from one Colombian department

Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Sep:110:4-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.06.018. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

Authors

Nelson Alvis Guzman¹, Fernando De la Hoz Restrepo², Hector Serrano-Coll³, Bertha Gastelbondo³, Salim Mattar³

Affiliations

¹ ALZAK Foundation, Colombia; Universidad de Cartagena, Facultad de Economía, Colombia; Universidad de la Costa CUC.
² Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Medicina, Colombia. Electronic address: fpdelahozr@unal.edu.co.
³ Universidad de Cordoba, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas del Tropico, Colombia.

Abstract

This study describe the infection fatality rate (IFR) by COVID-19 by age groups in one department of Colombia. It used results from a serological survey to stablish a closer estimation of the true proportion of infected people. It found an overall IFR of 0.24% quite lower than the overall CFR (5.6%). We conclude that CFR severely overestimate the lethality of COVID-19 in developing areas.

Keywords: COVID-19; Case fatality rate; Developing countries; Infection fatality rate; Lethality; SARS COV 2.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Colombia / epidemiology
Developing Countries
Humans
SARS-CoV-2
Serologic Tests