Abstract
Healthcare workers (HCWs), as frontliners, are assumed to be among the highest risk groups for COVID-19 infection, especially HCWs directly involved in patient care. However, the data on the COVID-19 infection and seroprevalence rates are limited in HCWs. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence rates in HCWs according to risk groups for COVID-19 contraction in a large cross-sectional study from a tertiary care hospital in Turkey. We enrolled 1974 HCWs before the vaccination programs. In two separate semi-quantitative ELISAs, either IgA or IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein subunit 1 (S1) were measured. The proportion of positive test results for IgG, IgA, or both against SARS-CoV-2 of study subjects was 19% (375/1974). Frontline HCWs who had contact with patients (21.7%, RR 2.1 [1.51–2.92]) and HCWs in working in the COVID-19 units, intensive care units, or emergency department (19.7%, RR 1.61 [1.12–2.32]) had a notably higher Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG compared to the rest of HCWs who has no daily patient contacts ([11.1%]; p < 0.0001). HCWs who care for regular patients in the medium-risk group have also experienced a sustained higher risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2. We should enhance the precaution against COVID-19 to protect HCW’s safety through challenging times.
Highlights
Towards December 2019, a novel coronavirus was first identified in a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
Initial estimates suggest that front-line healthcare workers (HCWs) may account for 10–20% of all COVID-19 diagnoses, and subsequent calculations based on meta-analyses of antibody prevalence from several countries demonstrate that the presence of IgG and/or IgM antibodies among HCWs has been found to vary between 7% and 9% [7–10]
Comorbidities were fairly low in our study population; 3% (69/1974) reported asthma, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Type 2 Diabetes, or atherosclerotic heart disease
Summary
Towards December 2019, a novel coronavirus was first identified in a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the novel coronavirus outbreak as a global pandemic [1,2]. As of 7 September 2021, more than 200 million cases of COVID-19 have been documented globally, and the pandemic has left close to 4.6 million people dead [3,4]. While coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains a serious concern, front-line healthcare workers (HCWs) are one of the highest-risk occupational groups for COVID-19 infection, since they have contact with both COVID-19 patients and other healthcare professionals [5,6]. Initial estimates suggest that front-line HCWs may account for 10–20% of all COVID-19 diagnoses, and subsequent calculations based on meta-analyses of antibody prevalence from several countries demonstrate that the presence of IgG and/or IgM antibodies among HCWs has been found to vary between 7% and 9% [7–10].
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