ArticleJournal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology2021
SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positivity and antibody prevalence among asymptomatic hospital-based health care workers.
Article in Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The role of routine SARS-CoV-2 screening of healthcare-workers in acute care hospitals in 2020: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection before and after the Omicron wave in a cohort of healthcare workers in Ontario, Canada.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- COVID-19 in the hotspot of Metropolitan Detroit: A multi-faceted health system experience.The International journal of health planning and management · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe level of asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2 could be substantial and among health care workers (HCWs) a source of continuing transmission of the virus to patients and co-workers.
objectivesMeasure the period prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 PCR positivity and seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies among a random sample of asymptomatic health system hospital-based health care workers (HCWs) 6½ -15½ weeks after 4/5/2020, the peak of the first surge of COVID-19 admissions.
resultsOf 524 eligible and consented participants from four metropolitan hospitals, nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from 439 (83.8 %) and blood from 374 (71.4 %). Using PCR nucleic acid-based amplification (NAAT) methods, the period prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 0.23 % (95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.01 %-1.28 %; 1/439) from 5/21/20-7/16/20. The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies from June 17-July 24, 2020 was 2.41 % (95 % CI 1.27 %-4.51 %; 9/374). Those who were reactive were younger (median age 36 versus 44 years; p = 0.050), and those with self-reported Hispanic/Latino ethnicity had a higher seroprevalence (2/12 = 16.7 % versus 7/352 = 2.0 %; p = 0.051). There were no significant differences by sex, race, residence, hospital, unit or job type. The one employee who was found to be PCR test positive in this study was also reactive for IgG antibodies, tested 27 days later.
conclusionsThe period prevalence of PCR positivity to SARS-CoV-2 and IgG seroprevalence was unexpectedly low in asymptomatic HCWs after a peak in COVID-19 admissions and the establishment of state and institutional infection control policies, suggesting that routine screening tests while community prevalence is relatively low would produce a minimal yield.
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