TY - JOUR
T1 - Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG among healthcare workers of a large university hospital in Milan, Lombardy, Italy
T2 - A cross-sectional study
AU - Lombardi, Andrea
AU - Mangioni, Davide
AU - Consonni, Dario
AU - Cariani, Lisa
AU - Bono, Patrizia
AU - Cantù, Anna Paola
AU - Tiso, Basilio
AU - Carugno, Michele
AU - Muscatello, Antonio
AU - Lunghi, Giovanna
AU - Pesatori, Angela Cecilia
AU - Riboldi, Luciano
AU - Ceriotti, Ferruccio
AU - Bandera, Alessandra
AU - Gori, Andrea
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/2/22
Y1 - 2021/2/22
N2 - Objectives To assess the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG among health careworkers (HCWs) in our university hospital and verify the risk of acquiring the infection according to work area. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Monocentric, Italian, third-level university hospital. Participants All the employees of the hospital on a voluntary base, for a total of 4055 participants among 4572 HCWs (88.7%). Primary and secondary outcome measures Number of anti-SARS-CoV-2 positive serology according to working area. Association of anti-SARS-CoV-2 positive serology to selected variables (age, gender, country of origin, body mass index, smoking, symptoms and contact with confirmed cases). Results From 27 April 2020 to 12 June 2020, 4055 HCWs were tested and 309 (7.6%) had a serological positive test. No relevant difference was found between men and women (8.3% vs 7.3%, p=0.3), whereas a higher prevalence was observed among foreign-born workers (27/186, 14.5%, p<0.001), employees younger than 30 (64/668, 9.6%, p=0.02) or older than 60 years (38/383, 9.9%, p=0.02) and among healthcare assistants (40/320, 12.5%, p=0.06). Working as frontline HCWs was not associated with an increased frequency of positive serology (p=0.42). A positive association was found with presence and number of symptoms (p<0.001). The symptoms most frequently associated with a positive serology were taste and smell alterations (OR 4.62, 95% CI: 2.99 to 7.15) and fever (OR 4.37, 95% CI: 3.11 to 6.13). No symptoms were reported in 84/309 (27.2%) HCWs with positive IgG levels. Declared exposure to a suspected/confirmed case was more frequently associated (p<0.001) with positive serology when the contact was a family member (19/94, 20.2%) than a patient or colleague (78/888, 8.8%). Conclusions SARS-CoV-2 infection occurred undetected in a large fraction of HCWs and it was not associated with working in COVID-19 frontline areas. Beyond the hospital setting, exposure within the community represents an additional source of infection for HCWs.
AB - Objectives To assess the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG among health careworkers (HCWs) in our university hospital and verify the risk of acquiring the infection according to work area. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Monocentric, Italian, third-level university hospital. Participants All the employees of the hospital on a voluntary base, for a total of 4055 participants among 4572 HCWs (88.7%). Primary and secondary outcome measures Number of anti-SARS-CoV-2 positive serology according to working area. Association of anti-SARS-CoV-2 positive serology to selected variables (age, gender, country of origin, body mass index, smoking, symptoms and contact with confirmed cases). Results From 27 April 2020 to 12 June 2020, 4055 HCWs were tested and 309 (7.6%) had a serological positive test. No relevant difference was found between men and women (8.3% vs 7.3%, p=0.3), whereas a higher prevalence was observed among foreign-born workers (27/186, 14.5%, p<0.001), employees younger than 30 (64/668, 9.6%, p=0.02) or older than 60 years (38/383, 9.9%, p=0.02) and among healthcare assistants (40/320, 12.5%, p=0.06). Working as frontline HCWs was not associated with an increased frequency of positive serology (p=0.42). A positive association was found with presence and number of symptoms (p<0.001). The symptoms most frequently associated with a positive serology were taste and smell alterations (OR 4.62, 95% CI: 2.99 to 7.15) and fever (OR 4.37, 95% CI: 3.11 to 6.13). No symptoms were reported in 84/309 (27.2%) HCWs with positive IgG levels. Declared exposure to a suspected/confirmed case was more frequently associated (p<0.001) with positive serology when the contact was a family member (19/94, 20.2%) than a patient or colleague (78/888, 8.8%). Conclusions SARS-CoV-2 infection occurred undetected in a large fraction of HCWs and it was not associated with working in COVID-19 frontline areas. Beyond the hospital setting, exposure within the community represents an additional source of infection for HCWs.
KW - Diagnostic microbiology
KW - Occupational & industrial medicine
KW - Public health
KW - Virology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101536814&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85101536814&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047216
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047216
M3 - Article
C2 - 33619203
AN - SCOPUS:85101536814
VL - 11
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
SN - 2044-6055
IS - 2
M1 - e047216
ER -