Abstract
Background During the Covid-19 pandemic, the protection of healthcare workers has been in focus throughout the world, but the availability and quality of personal protective equipment has at times and in some settings been suboptimal. Materials and methods A total of 8679 healthcare workers and healthcare support staff in the county of Uppsala, north of Stockholm, were included in this cross-sectional study. All subjects were analysed for IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2, and predictors for positive serostatus were analysed in a logistic regression model including demographic parameters and self-reported employment characteristics. Results Overall, 577 (6.6%) were classified as seropositive, with no statistically significant differences between healthcare workers and support staff. Among healthcare workers, age (OR 0.987 per year, 95% CI 0.980–0.995), time to sampling (OR 1.019 per day, 95% CI 1.004–1.035), and employment at an outpatient care unit (OR 0.620, 95% CI 0.487–0.788) were statistically significantly associated with risk of infection. Covid-19 specific units were not at particular risk, compared to other units with comparable characteristics and staff demography. Conclusion Our findings indicate that SARS-CoV-2 transmission is related to inpatient healthcare work, and illustrate the need for a high standard of basic hygiene routines in all inpatient care settings.
Highlights
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic began in late 2019, originating from the Hubei province in China [1]
Evaluation of the unadjusted subgroup prevalence of IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 seropositive subjects shows higher proportions of IgG positive subjects among male participants and those working in inpatient care units and Covid-19 specific units (Table 1; Figure 2)
The Covid-19 pandemic has put healthcare systems across the world at stress, to an extent that has rarely been seen in developed countries
Summary
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic began in late 2019, originating from the Hubei province in China [1]. Similar to the SARS-CoV-1 outbreak in 2003–2004, there were early reports of frequent transmission to healthcare professionals, including several with fatal outcome [3,4]. In Swedish hospital units dedicated to care for Covid-19 patients, single-use protective masks were by necessity to a large extent replaced by multi-use filter masks intended for military or civilian purposes. The sensitivity and specificity of the Abbott Architect SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay has previously been evaluated, but it is still not clear to what extent the severity of Covid-19 disease affects the level of seroconversion. This could result in lower sensitivity in populations with mild or asymptomatic disease [8].
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