tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
PLoS One
. 2021 Feb 16;16(2):e0247258.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247258. eCollection 2021.
Prospective observational study and serosurvey of SARS-CoV-2 infection in asymptomatic healthcare workers at a Canadian tertiary care center
Victor H Ferreira[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Andrzej Chruscinski[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Vathany Kulasingam[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Trevor J Pugh[SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Tamara Dus[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Brad Wouters[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Amit Oza[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Matthew Ierullo[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Terrance Ku[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Beata Majchrzak-Kita[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sonika T Humar[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ilona Bahinskaya[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Natalia Pinzon[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jianhua Zhang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lawrence E Heisler[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Paul M Krzyzanowski[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Bernard Lam[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Ilinca M Lungu[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Dorin Manase[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Krista M Pace[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Pouria Mashouri[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Michael Brudno[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Michael Garrels[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tony Mazzulli[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Myron Cybulsky[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Atul Humar[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Deepali Kumar[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Health care workers (HCWs) are at higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and may play a role in transmitting the infection to vulnerable patients and members of the community. This is particularly worrisome in the context of asymptomatic infection. We performed a cross-sectional study looking at asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCWs. We screened asymptomatic HCWs for SARS-CoV-2 via PCR. Complementary viral genome sequencing was performed on positive swab specimens. A seroprevalence analysis was also performed using multiple assays. Asymptomatic health care worker cohorts had a combined swab positivity rate of 29/5776 (0.50%, 95%CI 0.32-0.75) relative to a comparative cohort of symptomatic HCWs, where 54/1597 (3.4%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (ratio of symptomatic to asymptomatic 6.8:1). SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among 996 asymptomatic HCWs with no prior known exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was 1.4-3.4%, depending on assay. A novel in-house Coronavirus protein microarray showed differing SARS-CoV-2 protein reactivities and helped define likely true positives vs. suspected false positives. Our study demonstrates the utility of routine screening of asymptomatic HCWs, which may help to identify a significant proportion of infections.
. 2021 Feb 16;16(2):e0247258.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247258. eCollection 2021.
Prospective observational study and serosurvey of SARS-CoV-2 infection in asymptomatic healthcare workers at a Canadian tertiary care center
Victor H Ferreira[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Andrzej Chruscinski[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Vathany Kulasingam[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Trevor J Pugh[SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Tamara Dus[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Brad Wouters[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Amit Oza[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Matthew Ierullo[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Terrance Ku[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Beata Majchrzak-Kita[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sonika T Humar[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ilona Bahinskaya[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Natalia Pinzon[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jianhua Zhang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lawrence E Heisler[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Paul M Krzyzanowski[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Bernard Lam[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Ilinca M Lungu[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Dorin Manase[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Krista M Pace[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Pouria Mashouri[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Michael Brudno[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Michael Garrels[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tony Mazzulli[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Myron Cybulsky[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Atul Humar[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Deepali Kumar[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33592074
- DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247258
Abstract
Health care workers (HCWs) are at higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and may play a role in transmitting the infection to vulnerable patients and members of the community. This is particularly worrisome in the context of asymptomatic infection. We performed a cross-sectional study looking at asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCWs. We screened asymptomatic HCWs for SARS-CoV-2 via PCR. Complementary viral genome sequencing was performed on positive swab specimens. A seroprevalence analysis was also performed using multiple assays. Asymptomatic health care worker cohorts had a combined swab positivity rate of 29/5776 (0.50%, 95%CI 0.32-0.75) relative to a comparative cohort of symptomatic HCWs, where 54/1597 (3.4%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (ratio of symptomatic to asymptomatic 6.8:1). SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among 996 asymptomatic HCWs with no prior known exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was 1.4-3.4%, depending on assay. A novel in-house Coronavirus protein microarray showed differing SARS-CoV-2 protein reactivities and helped define likely true positives vs. suspected false positives. Our study demonstrates the utility of routine screening of asymptomatic HCWs, which may help to identify a significant proportion of infections.