Subject(s)
Antibodies, Viral/blood , Betacoronavirus/immunology , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Adult , Aged , COVID-19 , COVID-19 Testing , Clinical Laboratory Techniques , Electrochemical Techniques/methods , Female , Humans , Immunoassay/methods , Luminescent Measurements/methods , Male , Middle Aged , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2Subject(s)
Betacoronavirus/immunology , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Coronavirus Infections/immunology , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Viral/immunology , Automation, Laboratory/methods , Betacoronavirus/pathogenicity , COVID-19 , Humans , Immunoenzyme Techniques/methods , Immunoglobulin G/immunology , Immunoglobulin M/immunology , Luminescence , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
Results of three rapid immunochromatographic tests (ICTs) were compared with those obtained with two automated immunoassays for evaluation of their usefulness. One hundred fifty-nine patients and 67 healthy volunteers were included. Different assays demonstrate 41-45% of diagnostic sensitivities and 91-98% of specificities, with substantial agreement (89.3-91.2%), but a high percentage of weak positive results (13-22%) was observed with ICTs. ICTs performances were comparable to those of automated immunoassays. ICTs could have a role as screening approach due to their easy usability. Subjective interpretation, significant rate of uncertain results, uncertainty on viral antigens source are undoubtedly drawbacks.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Viral/immunology , COVID-19 Serological Testing/methods , COVID-19/diagnosis , Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins/immunology , Immunoassay/methods , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/immunology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , COVID-19/immunology , COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing , Child , Female , Humans , Immunoglobulin A/immunology , Immunoglobulin G/immunology , Male , Middle Aged , Phosphoproteins/immunology , SARS-CoV-2/immunology , Sensitivity and Specificity , Young AdultABSTRACT
Italy presented the first largest COVID-19 outbreak outside of China. Veneto currently ranks fourth among the Italian regions for COVID-19 confirmed cases (~19,000). This study presents health surveillance data for SARS-CoV-2 in 6100 health workers (HW) employed in a large public hospital. Workers underwent oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swabs, with a total of 5942 participants (97.5% of the population). A total of 11,890 specimens were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection using PCR, identifying the viral genes E, RdRP, and N. Positive tests were returned for 238 workers (cumulative incidence of 4.0%, similar in both COVID and nonCOVID units). SARS-CoV-2 risk was not affected by gender, age, or job type, whereas work setting and occupation were both predictors of infection. The risk was higher in medical wards (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.9-3.9) and health services (OR 4.3, 95% CI 2.4-7.6), and lower in surgical wards and administration areas. To our knowledge, this study represents the largest available HW case list swab-tested for SARS-CoV-2, covering almost the total workforce. Mass screening enabled the isolation of HW, improved risk assessment, allowed for close contacts of and infected HW to return to work, provided evidence of SARS-CoV-2 diffusion, and presented solid ground to prevent nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infections. The ongoing concurrent sero-epidemiological study aims to enable the improvement of health surveillance to maintain the safety of HWs and the communities they serve.