ABSTRACT
(1) Backgrounds and Objectives: The global battle to contain the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is still ongoing. This cross-sectional study aimed to detect the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG among previously symptomatic/asymptomatic and vaccinated/unvaccinated inhabitants of Sakaka City, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia. (2) Methods: Blood samples of 400 participants were tested for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG using colloidal gold immuno-chromatography lateral flow immunoassay cards. (3) Results: The prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG positivity was 45.8% and 42.3%, respectively. Statistically significant correlations (p < 0.05) were found between the previous RT-PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2-RNA and positivity for IgM and/or IgG. The highest seroprevalence of IgM and IgG were detected among smokers, participants aged ≥40 years, and patients with chronic diseases. Although most of the participants (58.5%) did not previously experience COVID-19 like symptoms, the anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG seropositivity amongst them was 49.1% and 25.6%, respectively, with higher seroprevalence among males than females. At the time of the study, the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination rate at our locality in Saudi Arabia was 43.8% with statistically significant correlation (p < 0.001) between being vaccinated and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM and/or IgG positivity, with more positivity after receiving the second vaccine dose. (4) Conclusions: Public assessment reflects the real scale of the disease exposure among the community and helps in identifying the asymptomatic carriers that constitute a major problem for controlling the SARS-CoV-2. To limit the spread of the virus, rigorous implementation of large-scale SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and anti-SARS-CoV-2 serological testing strategies should be empowered.
ABSTRACT
Health care workers (HCWs) working in different health care facilities are exposed to many hazards, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence, pattern, and risk factors of occupational health hazards faced by 438 randomly selected HCWs from northern Saudi Arabia. The HCWs are commonly exposed to needle stick injuries (34.5%) under the biological hazards category; and work-related stress (69.6%) under the non-biological hazards categories. The significant associated factors were work setting (ref: Primary Health Center: Adjusted OR (AOR) = 2.81, 95%CI = 1.21-4.59, p = 0.017), smoking status (ref.: non-smoker: AOR = 1.73, 95%CI = 1.03-2.91, p = 0.039), and mean sleeping duration per day (AOR = 1.22, 95%CI = 1.04-1.43, p = 0.014) for biological, and smoking status (ref: non-smoker: AOR = 2.16, 95%CI = 1.09-3.29, p = 0.028), and mean sleeping duration per day (AOR = 1.35, 95%CI = 1.07-1.70, p = 0.013) for non-biological categories. This study revealed several risk factors and occupational health hazards that HCWs are exposed to during their work time. Periodic training and follow-up assessments regarding bio-safety measures for the HCWs should be implemented. Finally, future explorative studies are warranted on the feasibility of implementing rotation-based postings for the HCWs in different health care settings.