Hein Min Tun signed with colleagues from the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Re‐emerging Infectious Diseases in Animals of the Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, a paper on a serological survey of human coronavirus antibodies among villagers in 10 provinces of Thailand that was conducted between 2016–2018 in the Wiley Online Library.
They showed that 10.44% (38/364) of the villagers had developed antibodies against human coronaviruses.
The odds ratio for coronavirus positivity in the villagers in the central region who were exposed to bats was 4.75 (95% CI 1.04–21.70) compared to that for the non‐exposed villagers.
Their results showed that 62.36% (227/364) of the villagers had been exposed to bats at least once in the past six months and that low monthly family income was statistically significant in increasing the risk for coronavirus seropositivity among the villagers.
Abstract
A serological survey of human coronavirus antibodies among villagers in 10 provinces of Thailand was conducted during 2016–2018. Serum samples (n = 364) were collected from participants from the villages and tested for coronavirus antibodies using a human coronavirus IgG ELISA kit. Our results showed that 10.44% (38/364; 21 males and 17 females) of the villagers had antibodies against human coronaviruses. The odds ratio for coronavirus positivity in the villagers in the central region who were exposed to bats was 4.75, 95% CI 1.04–21.70, when compared to that in the non‐exposed villagers. The sociodemographics, knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of the villagers were also recorded and analysed by using a quantitative structured questionnaire. Our results showed that 62.36% (227/364) of the villagers had been exposed to bats at least once in the past six months. Low monthly family income was statistically significant in increasing the risk for coronavirus seropositivity among the villagers (OR 2.91, 95% CI 1.13–7.49). In‐depth interviews among the coronavirus‐positive participants (n = 30) showed that cultural context, local norms and beliefs could influence to bat exposure activities. In conclusion, our results provide baseline information on human coronavirus antibodies and KAP regarding to bat exposure among villagers in Thailand.
Map of study provinces in Thailand and percentages of CoV seropositivity among villagers.