ArticleBMJ open2021
Prevalence and incidence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among healthcare workers in Belgian hospitals before vaccination: a prospective cohort study.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04373889 (SARS-COV-2 Prevalence, Seroprevalence and Seroconversion Among Healthcare Workers in Belgium During the 2020 COVID-19 Outbreak), which is not on this map. Cited by 17 papers.
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The trial behind it
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.
SARS-COV-2 Prevalence, Seroprevalence and Seroconversion Among Healthcare Workers in Belgium During the 2020 COVID-19 Outbreak
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Estimating the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections by jointly modelling seroprevalence, hospitalization and mortality data, February 2020 - January 2021, Belgium.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Seropositivity in Nursing Home Staff and Residents during the First SARS-CoV-2 Wave in Flanders, Belgium.Viruses · 2024Article
- COVID-19 seroprevalence cohort survey among health care workers and their household members in Kinshasa, DR Congo, 2020-2022.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2024Article
- Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and associated factors in the adult population of Belgium: a general population cohort study between March 2021 and April 2022.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2024Article
- Observational
- Analysis of the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in groups of medical and non-medical professions.International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health · 2023Article
- Article
- Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in children with chronic diseases with healthy children and adults during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Article
- Impact of influenza vaccination on GP-diagnosed COVID-19 and all-cause mortality: a Dutch cohort study.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Article
- Article
- Article
- Pre-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among staff and residents of nursing homes in Flanders (Belgium) in fall 2020.Epidemiology and infection · 2022Article
- The coronavirus pandemic: Psychosocial burden, risk-perception, and attitudes in the Austrian population and its relation to media consumption.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Factors Associated with Pre-Vaccination SARS-CoV-2 Infection Risk among Hospital Nurses Facing COVID-19 Outbreak.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in health care workers of a teaching hospital in Belgium: self-reported occupational and household risk factors for seropositivity.Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease · 2021Article
- SARS-COV-2 seroprevalence among employees of a University Hospital in Belgium during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak (COVEMUZ-study).Epidemiology and infection · 2021Article
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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo describe prevalence and incidence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among Belgian hospital healthcare workers (HCW) in April-December 2020.
designProspective cohort study. Follow-up was originally planned until September and later extended.
settingMulticentre study, 17 hospitals.
participants50 HCW were randomly selected per hospital. HCW employed beyond the end of the study and whose profession involved contact with patients were eligible. 850 HCW entered the study in April-May 2020, 673 HCW (79%) attended the September visit and 308 (36%) the December visit. OUTCOME MEASURES: A semiquantitative ELISA was used to detect IgG against SARS-CoV-2 in serum (Euroimmun) at 10 time points. In seropositive samples, neutralising antibodies were measured using a virus neutralisation test. Real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) was performed to detect SARS-CoV-2 on nasopharyngeal swabs. Participant characteristics and the presence of symptoms were collected via an online questionnaire.
resultsAmong all participants, 80% were women, 60% nurses and 21% physicians. Median age was 40 years. The seroprevalence remained relatively stable from April (7.7% (95% CI: 4.8% to 12.1%) to September (8.2% (95% CI: 5.7% to 11.6%)) and increased thereafter, reaching 19.7% (95% CI: 12.0% to 30.6%) in December 2020. 76 of 778 initially seronegative participants seroconverted during the follow-up (incidence: 205/1000 person-years). Among all seropositive individuals, 118/148 (80%) had a positive neutralisation test, 83/147 (56%) presented or reported a positive RT-qPCR, and 130/147 (88%) reported COVID-19-compatible symptoms at least once. However, only 46/73 (63%) of the seroconverters presented COVID-19-compatible symptoms in the month prior to seroconversion.
conclusionsThe seroprevalence among hospital HCW was slightly higher than that of the general Belgian population but followed a similar evolution, suggesting that infection prevention and control measures were effective and should be strictly maintained. After two SARS-CoV-2 waves, 80% of HCW remained seronegative, justifying their prioritisation in the vaccination strategy. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04373889.
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