Clinico-Epidemiological Characteristics of Healthcare Workers with SARS-CoV-2 Infection during the First and Second Waves in a Teaching Hospital from Eastern India: A Comparative Analysis.

In this retrospective observational study, we have performed a comparative analysis of the demographic, clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the HCWs affected with SARS-CoV-2 infection during first two waves in India. The overall prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCWs was found to be 15.24% (14.20–16.33) and 23.38% (22.14–25.65) during first and second waves respectively. The second wave showed an adjusted odds ratio of 0.04(0.02–0.07) and 2.09(1.49–2.93) for hospitalization and being symptomatic, respectively. We detected significantly higher level of C-reactive protein (CRP) among admitted HCWs during the second wave (5.10 –14.60 mg/dl) as compared to the first wave (2.00 – 2.80 mg/dl). Our study found the relative risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection among HCWs during the second wave to be 0.68 [0.57–0.82, p < 0.001)]. Although, the prevalence of SARS CoV-2 infection and risk of being symptomatic was higher during second wave, the risk of hospitalization was less when compared with the first wave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]