Simple, sensitive, specific self-sampling assay secures SARS-CoV-2 antibody signals in sero-prevalence and post-vaccine studies

The study validated a semi-quantitative protocol for Epstein-Barr virus serology using dried blood spots, demonstrating 98.8% sensitivity and 96.5% specificity compared to paired venous serum samples. The successful validation in a self-sampling cohort confirms the suitability of this patient-centric microsampling approach for large-scale seroprevalence studies and decentralised trials.

A dried blood spot protocol for high-throughput semi-quantitative analysis of Epstein-Barr Virus VCA IgG and EBNA IgG serologies based on the Roche Elecsys system — Rubio-Acero et al., Virology journal · source ↗

• blood
• dried
• capillary
• dbs
• self-collection
• validation
• venous-agreement
• serology

Self-collected dried blood spots analysed on the Roche Elecsys platform gave quantitative anti-spike antibody results that agreed closely with paired venous samples, with sensitivity 96.63% and specificity 97.81% and a conversion formula across 0.018 to 250 U/mL, enabling accurate tracking of titre changes in longitudinal cohorts after vaccination.

A Dried Blood Spot protocol for high-throughput quantitative analysis of SARS-CoV-2 RBD serology based on the Roche Elecsys system — Castelletti et al., Microbiology spectrum · source ↗

• blood
• dried
• dbs
• self-collection
• validation
• venous-agreement
• serology

Dried blood spot eluates showed high agreement with serum for SARS-CoV-2 IgG against Spike and Nucleocapsid (r≈0.96; qualitative φ≈0.98–1.0) and remained stable after 6–8 hours of storage, supporting use of capillary DBS for serosurveys and decentralised testing.

Dried blood spot eluates are suitable for testing of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies targeting Spike protein 1 and Nucleocapsid protein — Guttmann et al., Biochemistry and biophysics reports · source ↗

• venous-agreement
• blood
• dbs
• self-collection
• dried
• serology
• capillary
• validation

In 1070 young adults, dried blood spot eluates correlated strongly with serum for anti-spike IgGAM and total IgG, IgA and IgM; labDBS achieved 82.0% sensitivity and 98.2% specificity and ssDBS 86.1% sensitivity and 96.7% specificity versus serum, with minimal difference between self and investigator collection.

Validation of dried blood spot sampling for detecting SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and total immunoglobulins in a large cohort of asymptomatic young adults — Ferentinos et al., Journal of immunological methods · source ↗

• blood
• dried
• dbs
• self-collection
• validation
• venous-agreement
• serology

Dried blood spot sampling achieved high sensitivity and specificity for SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection with strong correlation to paired serum, enabling virtually painless, decentralised specimen collection in community and remote settings where venepuncture is difficult.

Evaluation of serological assays for SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing from dried blood spots collected from cohorts with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection — Catlett et al., Journal of clinical virology plus · source ↗

• blood
• dried
• capillary
• dbs
• self-collection
• validation
• venous-agreement
• serology