Serology-informed estimates of SARS-CoV-2 infection fatality risk in Geneva, Switzerland

The infection fatality risk (IFR) is the average number of deaths per infection by a pathogen and is key to characterizing the severity of infection across the population and for specific demographic groups. To date, there are few empirical estimates of IFR published due to challenges in measuring infection rates.[1][1],[2][2] Outside of closed, closely surveilled populations where infection rates can be monitored through viral surveillance, we must rely on indirect measures of infection, like specific antibodies. Representative seroprevalence studies provide an important avenue for estimating the number of infections in a community, and when combined with death counts can lead to robust estimates of the IFR. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement Funding from the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, Swiss School of Public Health (Corona Immunitas Research Program),Fondation de Bienfaisance du Groupe Pictet, Fondation Ancrage, Fondation Privé des Hopitaux Universitaires de Genè, and Center for Emerging Viral Diseases. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The study was approved by the Cantonal Research Ethics Commission of Geneva, Switzerland (CER16-363) All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes Data and code used in the analysis is available on Github [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2