1. Infection prevention strategies are highly protective in COVID-19 units while main risks to healthcare professionals come from coworkers and the community
- Author
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Shruti K. Gohil, Kathleen A. Quan, Keith M. Madey, Suzanne King-Adelsohn, Tom Tjoa, Delia Tifrea, Bridgit O. Crews, Edwin S. Monuki, Saahir Khan, Sebastian D. Schubl, Cassiana E. Bittencourt, Neil Detweiler, Wayne Chang, Lynn Willis, Usme Khusbu, Antonella Saturno, Sherif A. Rezk, Cesar Figueroa, Aarti Jain, Rafael Assis, Philip Felgner, Robert Edwards, Lanny Hsieh, Donald Forthal, William C. Wilson, Michael J. Stamos, and Susan S. Huang
- Subjects
COVID-19 seroprevalence ,Healthcare worker COVID-19 exposure ,COVID-19 outbreaks ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 ,Healthcare professional COVID-19 exposure ,Infectious and parasitic diseases ,RC109-216 - Abstract
Abstract Background Early evaluations of healthcare professional (HCP) COVID-19 risk occurred during insufficient personal protective equipment and disproportionate testing, contributing to perceptions of high patient-care related HCP risk. We evaluated HCP COVID-19 seropositivity after accounting for community factors and coworker outbreaks. Methods Prior to universal masking, we conducted a single-center retrospective cohort plus cross-sectional study. All HCP (1) seen by Occupational Health for COVID-like symptoms (regardless of test result) or assigned to (2) dedicated COVID-19 units, (3) units with a COVID-19 HCP outbreak, or (4) control units from 01/01/2020 to 04/15/2020 were offered serologic testing by an FDA-authorized assay plus a research assay against 67 respiratory viruses, including 11 SARS-CoV-2 antigens. Multivariable models assessed the association of demographics, job role, comorbidities, care of a COVID-19 patient, and geocoded socioeconomic status with positive serology. Results Of 654 participants, 87 (13.3%) were seropositive; among these 60.8% (N = 52) had never cared for a COVID-19 patient. Being male (OR 1.79, CI 1.05–3.04, p = 0.03), working in a unit with a HCP-outbreak unit (OR 2.21, CI 1.28–3.81, p
- Published
- 2021
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