Few People in China Have Coronavirus Antibodies, Study Shows

People in China are extremely unlikely to have antibodies against the novel coronavirus, although those in areas affected by the initial outbreak early this year have a significantly higher probability, according to the country’s top disease control body.

The low rates of coronavirus antibodies among the general population reflect the country’s success in containing its Covid-19 epidemic, the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) said Monday in an online statement.

The organization said it had conducted the first study on the prevalence of coronavirus antibodies in large groups of people in both the center of the outbreak and less-affected areas. Because antibodies are produced in response to infection and form specific shapes to fight particular invaders, they indicate that a person has previously contracted certain pathogens.

Other countries have conducted similar antibody tests on large swaths of the population. Testing positive for the antibodies does not necessarily mean the person is immune to the coronavirus.

Beginning “one month after our nation checked the spread of the first wave of Covid-19,” the China CDC tested the blood serum of more than 34,000 people in Wuhan, the central city where the coronavirus was first detected, the surrounding province of Hubei and six other areas, the statement said (link in Chinese).

While some 4.43% of people in Wuhan had coronavirus antibodies, the proportion fell to 0.44% in Hubei and to “extremely low” figures in the cities of Beijing and Shanghai as well as the provinces of Liaoning, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Sichuan.

Middle-aged and elderly people, as well as those who had been exposed to people with confirmed cases of Covid-19, were more likely to have the antibodies.

“The results show that the general population in China experienced a low level of infection, indicating that the control of the epidemic in the main battlefield of Wuhan was successful and effectively prevented its large-scale spread,” the statement said. The China CDC did not disclose the entire study.

Similar research in other countries has found a higher prevalence of coronavirus antibodies in the general population, indicating that more people have been infected.

According to research led by Imperial College London, nearly 6% of people in England had coronavirus antibodies in June, a proportion that fell to 4.4% by September. A separate study published in July in the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet found that between 3.7% and 6.2% of people in Spain had coronavirus antibodies in May.

The China CDC’s study comes as the Asian nation works to tamp down new Covid-19 outbreaks in several major cities.

On Tuesday, health authorities in Beijing announced (link in Chinese) seven new locally transmitted infections, all in the northeastern suburb of Shunyi.

The northeastern province of Liaoning added eight new cases, all in the industrial cities of Shenyang and Dalian (links in Chinese).

The new infections brought (link in Chinese) the nationwide Covid-19 case count to 87,003, according to the National Health Commission. The death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.

Contact reporter Matthew Walsh (matthewwalsh@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)

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