SARS-CoV-2 in Rural Latin America. A Population-based Study in Coastal Ecuador.
Oscar H Del BruttoAldo F CostaRobertino M MeraBettsy Y RecaldeJavier A BustosHéctor H GarcíaPublished in: Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (2021)
Antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were detected in 303/673 rural Ecuadorian adults (45%), 77% of whom had compatible clinical manifestations. Seropositivity was associated with the use of open latrines. Our findings support the fears of mass spread of SARS-CoV-2 in rural Latin America and cannot exclude a contributing role for fecal-oral transmission.