The effect of COVID-19 on workplace violence in California's hospitals: An interrupted time series analysis.

AIM: This study used California's unique Workplace Violent Incident Reporting System (WVIRS) to describe changes in workplace violence (WV) exposure for hospital-based healthcare workers during the pandemic. DESIGN: Interrupted time series analysis. METHODS: We compared the linear trends in weekly WV incidents reported during the period before the COVID-19 pandemic (7/1/2017-3/20/2020) to the period following California's shutdown (3/21/2020-6/30/2021). We created mixed effects models for incidents reported in emergency departments (EDs) and in other hospital units. We used hospital volume data from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information. RESULTS: A total of 418 hospitals reported 37,561 incidents during the study period. For EDs, the number of reported incidents remained essentially constant, despite a 26% drop in outpatient visits between the first and second quarters of 2020. For other hospital units, weekly incidents initially dropped-parallel to a 13% decrease in inpatient days between the first and second quarters of 2020-but then continued parallel to the trend seen in the pre-COVID period. CONCLUSION: WV persists steadily in California's hospitals. Despite major reductions in patient volume due to COVID-19, weekly reported ED incidents remained essentially unchanged. IMPACT: Surveys and media reported that WV increased during the pandemic, but it has been difficult to measure these changes using a large-scale database. The absolute number of WV incidents did not increase during the pandemic; however, the trend in reported incidents remained constant in the context of dramatic decreases in patient volume. New federal WV prevention legislation is being considered in the U.S. California's experience of implementation should be considered to improve WV reporting and prevention. PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: There was no public contribution to this study. The goal of this analysis was to summarize findings from administrative data. The findings presented can inform future discussion of public policy and action.

Competitive Immunoassay of SARS-CoV-2 Using Pig Sera-Derived Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies.

Anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (anti-SARS-CoV-2) nucleoprotein (NP) antibodies were isolated from pig sera using human SARS-CoV-2 NP-immobilized magnetic beads. The binding properties of the isolated antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 NP were tested via flow cytometry using SARS-CoV-2 NP-immobilized magnetic beads. A competitive immunoassay was developed for detecting SARS-CoV-2 NP as well as SARS-CoV-2 in the culture fluid using magnetic beads with immobilized anti-SARS-CoV-2 NP antibodies. Selectivity tests were carried out during the competitive immunoassay for SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and CoV strain 229E in the culture fluid.

Pig Sera-derived Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensors.

Anti-coronavirusdisease-2019 (COVID-19; anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)) antibodies against nucleoprotein (NP) were purified from pig sera. Following the separation of the antibody fraction using a protein-A column, the final yield of the purified antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 NPs was estimated to be 0.26 ± 0.05 % (absolute amount of 143.4 ± 25.2 ng, n=5) from 1 mL of pig sera. The binding activities of the isolated antibodies were confirmed using immunoassay and immunostaining. Based on the specific binding activity to NPs, a quantitative assay was performed using a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor. From the doseresponse curve, the binding constant (Kd) was calculated to be 185 pM and the limit of detection was estimated to be 1.02 pM. The SPR biosensor with the isolated antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 NPs was applied for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, and CoV strain 229E in culture fluid.