SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence among Healthcare Workers after the First and Second Pandemic Waves
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Abstract
Background: The Grand Hôpital de Charleroi is a large non-academic Belgian hospital that treated a large number of COVID-19 inpatients. In the context of this pandemic, all professions-combined healthcare workers (HCWs), and not only direct caregivers, are a frontline workforce in contact with suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases and seem to be a high-risk group for exposure. The aim of our study was to estimate the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in HCWs in our hospital after the first and second pandemic waves and to characterize the distribution of this seroprevalence in relation to various criteria. Methods: At the end of the two recruitment periods, a total of 4008 serological tests were performed in this single-center cross-sectional study. After completing a questionnaire including demographic and personal data, possible previous COVID-19 diagnostic test results and/or the presence of symptoms potentially related to COVID-19, the study participants underwent blood sampling and serological testing using DiaSorin’s LIAISON® SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG test for the first phase and LIAISON® SARS-CoV-2 TrimericS IgG test for the second phase of this study. Results: In total, 302 study participants (10.72%) in the first round of the study and 404 (33.92%) in the second round were positive for SARS-CoV-2-IgG antibodies. The prevalence of seropositivity observed after the second wave was 3.16 times higher than after the first wave. We confirmed that direct, prolonged, and repeated contact with patients or their environment was a predominant seroconversion factor, but more unexpectedly, that this was the case for all HCWs and not only caregivers. Finally, the notion of high-risk contact seemed more readily identifiable in one’s workplace than in one’s private life. Conclusions: Our study confirmed that HCWs are at a significantly higher risk of contracting COVID-19 than the general population, and suggests that repeated contacts with at-risk patients, regardless of the HCWs’ professions, represents the most important risk factor for seroconversion (Clinicaltrials.gov number, NCT04723290).
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SciScore for 10.1101/2022.03.03.22271855: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:In conclusion, though this study has the limitation of being monocentric, it has the advantage of pinpointing the time between possible exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and seroconversion across a wide variety of professions within our hospital, giving a more …
SciScore for 10.1101/2022.03.03.22271855: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:In conclusion, though this study has the limitation of being monocentric, it has the advantage of pinpointing the time between possible exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and seroconversion across a wide variety of professions within our hospital, giving a more accurate estimation of seroprevalence among our HCWs, which is indeed slightly higher than what has been reported in previous studies conducted in our country and in Europe during both pandemic waves. It confirmed that healthcare workers represent a population that is at significantly higher risk of contracting COVID-19 than the general population. We suggest that the notion of repeated contact with high-risk patients and the regular change PPE represent the most important risk factors for seroconversion. In this context, absolute adherence to infection prevention and barrier measures, sufficient and adequate personal protective equipment, as well as early recognition, identification and isolation of healthcare workers infected with SARS-CoV-2 remain mandatory to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection and transmission, especially since the notion of high-risk contact, although more readily accessible in the professional than in the private setting, continues to be elusive.
Results from TrialIdentifier: We found the following clinical trial numbers in your paper:
Identifier Status Title NCT04723290 Completed COVID-19 Seroconversion Study Among GHdC Staff Members - Sum… Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.
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