ABSTRACT
BackgroundThe Co-HCW study is a prospective, longitudinal single center observational study on the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and infection status in staff members of Jena University Hospital (JUH) in Jena, Germany. Material and MethodsThis follow-up study covers the observation period from 19th May 2020 to 22nd June 2021. At each out of three voluntary study visits, participants filled out a questionnaire on individual SARS-CoV-2 exposure. In addition, serum samples to assess specific SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were collected. Participants with antibodies against nucleocapsid and/or spike protein without previous vaccination and/or a reported positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test were regarded as participants with detected SARS-CoV-2 infection. Multivariable logistic regression modeling was applied to identify potential risk factors for infected compared to non-infected participants. ResultsOut of 660 participants that were included during the first study visit, 406 participants (61.5%) were eligible for final analysis as they did not change the COVID-19 risk area (high-risk n=76; intermediate-risk n=198; low-risk n=132) during the study. Forty-four participants (10.8%, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 8.0%-14.3%) had evidence of a current or past SARS-CoV-2 infection detected by serology (n=40) and/or PCR (n=28). No association of any SARS-CoV-2 infection with the COVID-19 risk group according to working place could be detected. But exposure to a SARS-CoV-2 positive household member (adjusted OR (AOR) 4.46, 95%CI 2.06-9.65) or colleague (AOR 2.30, 95%CI 1.10-4.79) significantly increased the risk of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. ConclusionOur results demonstrate that non-patient-related SARS-CoV-2 exposure imposed the highest infection risk in hospital staff members of JUH.
ABSTRACT
Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at particular risk to acquire SARS-CoV-2 infections. Aim: The objectives of this study were to compare SARS-CoV-2 IgG seroprevalence and compliance to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) between HCWs working within (high-risk) or outside (intermediate-risk) units treating suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients. In addition, administration staff (low-risk) was included. Materials: Co-HCW is a prospective cohort study among employees at the Jena University Hospital, Germany. Since 16th March 2020, 50 SARS-CoV-2 inpatients and 73 outpatients were treated in our hospital. Mandatory masking was implemented on 20th March 2020. We here evaluated seroprevalence using two IgG detecting immunoassays, assessed COVID-19 exposure, clinical symptoms and compliance to wear PPE. Findings: Between 19th May and 19th June 2020 we analysed 660 employees [out of 3,228; 20.4%]. Eighteen participants (2.7%) had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in at least one immunoassay. Among them, 13 (72.2%) were not aware of direct COVID-19 exposure and 9 (50.0%) did not report any clinical symptoms. We observed no evidence for an association between seroprevalence and risk area (high-risk: 2 of 137 HCWs (1.5%), intermediate-risk: 10 of 343 HCWs (2.9%), low-risk: 6 of 180 administration employees (3.3%); p=0.574). Reported compliance to wear PPE differed (p<0.001) between working in high-risk (98.3%) and in intermediate-risk areas (69.8%). Conclusion: No evidence for higher seroprevalence against SARS-CoV-2 in HCWs working in high-risk COVID-19 areas could be observed, probably due to high compliance to wear PPE. Compared to administration employees, we observed no additional risk to acquire SARS-CoV-2 infections by patient care.
ABSTRACT
Universal masking the health care setting and in the community to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 has been recently recommended by the WHO, but supporting data are rare. The City of Jena was the first community in Germany to issue an order on mandatory public masking. Here, we report the development of the number of novel infections in our hospital and in the city of Jena after implementation of universal masking in our hospital and the city.
