ABSTRACT
Relevance. The novel coronavirus pandemic is a major burden on public health and healthcare professionals. The study of the prevalence of antibodies among medical workers provides an understanding of the potential risk of transmission of the infectious agent, the level of herd immunity, the introduction of specific immunization and risk stratification in various areas of professional activities. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of specific antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in the personnel of the medical and sanitary unit, providing the population with outpatient and inpatient medical care. Materials and methods. A study to assess seroprevalence to the SARS-CoV-2 virus was carried out in the Omsk region from September 2020 to December 2020. The study included 2 groups of employees of continuously operating organizations – the main group – employees of the medical and sanitary unit of the city of Omsk (n = 631), the control group consisted of employees of two industrial enterprises in the city of Omsk (n = 1696). The level of class G immunoglobulins to the SARS-CoV-2 virus was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results. Among medical workers, the proportion of people with a positive reaction to IgG was 73.1% (n = 461;95% CI 69.5–76.4%). In the control group, the proportion of those who were seropositive was 3.9 times less than that – 18.6% (n = 315;95% CI 16.8–20.5). Significant differences in seroprevalence in men and women were revealed in medical workers (χ2 = 4.164;p = 0.0413). The highest proportion of seroconversion was found in nursing staff – 85,4% (95% CI 71.6 – 93.1), in doctors – 63.3% (95% CI 55.0–70.9). The highest rate of seroprevalence was found among hospital medical workers – 81.9%, the lowest among employees of the administrative and economic service – 51,8%. Conclusions. The level of specific antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 among medical workers significantly exceeded that of other professional groups, and there was a high proportion of seroconversion among junior medical personnel and in-patient medical unit workers. © Blokh AI et al.
ABSTRACT
Objective was to analyze the epidemiological situation on Ixodidae tick-borne borreliosis (ITBB) in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the dynamics over the period of 2010–2020, taking into account the features of the year 2020, associated with the spread of COVID-19, and to forecast the development of the epidemic process for 2021. In 2020, 4180 cases of ITBB were registered in the Russian Federation, which is 1.93 times less than in 2019 and 1.73 times less than the long-term average annual figure for the previous 10 years. A significant decrease was noted in all federal districts (FD), with the exception of the Central FD, where more than half of all cases occurred. Compared to 2019, 75 out of 78 subjects experienced a decrease in the incidence rate in 2020, while in 56 entities that decrease was statistically significant. The multiplicity of the decrease in the incidence of ITBB in 2020 for all FD was significantly greater than the multiplicity of the decrease in the frequency of contacts of the population with ticks. Infection of Ixodidae ticks of various species with borrelia in natural foci in 2020 was statistically significantly higher than in 2019. Probably, the decrease in the registered incidence of ITBB against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic is due not only to a decrease in the intensity of contacts of the population with natural foci, but also to a sharp redistribution of the volume of inpatient and outpatient medical care in favor of COVID-19 patients. Given the high degree of significance of the identified trends in the dynamics of the epidemic ITBB process during 2010–2020, there is reason to expect an increase in the incidence in the Bryansk, Voronezh, Ryazan, Tula and Saratov regions in 2021, which requires special attention in terms of strengthening preventive measures and monitoring of the activity and structure of natural foci. In the rest of the entities of the Russian Federation, provided that the volumes of preventive measures are maintained on the same level and in the absence of abnormal natural and climatic phenomena, preservation or a slight reduction in the incidence of ITBB is likely to occur in the short term. At the same time, despite the tense situation regarding the new coronavirus infection, there is an obvious need to draw close attention to the problems of diagnosis and prevention of natural focal infections. © 2021 Russian Research Anti-Plague Institute. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Aim. To study the spread of COVID-19 among the population of the Omsk Region during 24 weeks of the epidemic on the background of anti-epidemic measures. Materials and methods. A descriptive epidemiological study was carried out based on publically available data и data from the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Omsk Region on the official registration and epidemiological investigation of detected COVID-19 cases in the Omsk Region for the period from March 27 to September 10, 2020. To assess the potential of COVID-19 to spread, the following indicators were calculated: exponential growth rate (r), basic reproduction number (R0), effective reproduction number (Rt), expected natural epidemic size and herd immunity threshold. Data processing was performed using MS Excel 2010. The cartogram was built using the QGIS 3.12-Bukuresti application in the EPSG: 3576 coordinate system. Results and discussion. For the period from March 27 to September 10, 2020, a total of 9779 cases of COVID-19 were registered in the Omsk Region, the cumulative incidence was 507,6 per 100000 (95 % CI 497,5÷517,6), the case-fatality rate for completed cases was 2.9 %, for identified cases – 2.4 %. The most active spread of COVID-19 was noted in Omsk and 4 out of 32 districts of the region (Moskalensky, Azov German National, Mariyanovsky, Novovarshavsky). During the ongoing anti-epidemic measures, the exponential growth rate of the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases was 4.5 % per day, R0 – 1.4–1.5, Rt – 1.10, herd immunity threshold – 28.6 %. The expected size of the epidemic in case of sustained anti-epidemic measures can reach 58.0 % of the recovered population. A decrease in the number of detected virus carriers, incomplete detection of COVID-19 among patients with community-acquired pneumonia introduced additional risks for the latent spread of infection and complications of the epidemic situation. Maintaining restrictive measures and increasing the proportion of the immune population (over 28.6 %) may significantly reduce the risks of increasing the spread of COVID-19 in the Omsk Region. © 2020 Russian Research Anti-Plague Institute. All rights reserved.