High SARS-CoV-2 Infection Rates Among Special Forces Police Units During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ecuador.
Front Med (Lausanne)
; 8: 735821, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1938623
ABSTRACT
Background:
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, health workers and first-responders, such as police officers, were in charge of trying to contain a disease that was unknown at that time. The lack of information and the tremendous need to contain new outbreaks put police officers at higher risk.Methodology:
A cross-sectional study was conducted to describe SARS-CoV-2 infection rates among Police Special Forces Officers in Quito, Ecuador. In this study, 163 community-dwelling police officers from elite divisions voluntarily participated in our SARS-CoV-2 detection program using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR).Results:
A total of 20 out of 163 police officers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, yielding an infection rate of 12.3%. Within this cohort, 10% (2/20) of SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals were potentially super spreaders with viral loads over 108 copies/ul. About 85% of the SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals were asymptomatic and 15% reported mild symptoms related to COVID-19.Conclusions:
We found a high SARS-CoV-2 infection rate within the special forces police officers that, beyond a high health risk for themselves, their families, and coworkers. Our results point out the need for permanent SARS-CoV-2 testing among asymptomatic essential workers and first-responders to avoid local outbreaks and to prevent work-place absenteeism among police special units.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Ecuador
Language:
English
Journal:
Front Med (Lausanne)
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Fmed.2021.735821
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