PLoS ONE (Jan 2020)

Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 among health care workers in a country with low burden of COVID-19.

  • Mina Psichogiou,
  • Andreas Karabinis,
  • Ioanna D Pavlopoulou,
  • Dimitrios Basoulis,
  • Konstantinos Petsios,
  • Sotirios Roussos,
  • Maria Pratikaki,
  • Edison Jahaj,
  • Konstantinos Protopapas,
  • Konstantinos Leontis,
  • Vasiliki Rapti,
  • Anastasia Kotanidou,
  • Anastasia Antoniadou,
  • Garyphallia Poulakou,
  • Dimitrios Paraskevis,
  • Vana Sypsa,
  • Angelos Hatzakis

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243025
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 12
p. e0243025

Abstract

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IntroductionGreece is a country with limited spread of SARS-CoV-2 and cumulative infection attack rate of 0.12% (95% CI 0.06-0.26). Health care workers (HCWs) are a well-recognized risk group for COVID-19. The study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in a nosocomial setting and assess potential risk factors.MethodsHCWs from two hospitals participated in the study. Hospital-1 was a tertiary university affiliated center, involved in the care of COVID-19 patients while hospital-2 was a tertiary specialized cardiac surgery center not involved in the care of these patients. A validated, CE, rapid, IgM/IgG antibody point-of-care test was used. Comparative performance with a reference globally available assay was assessed.Results1,495 individuals consented to participate (response rate 77%). The anti-SARS-CoV-2 weighted prevalence was 1.26% (95% CI 0.43, 3.26) overall and 0.53% (95% CI 0.06, 2.78) and 2.70% (95% CI 0.57, 9.19) in hospital-1 and hospital-2, respectively although the study was underpowered to detect statistically significant differences. The overall, hospital-1, and hospital-2 seroprevalence was 10, 4 and 22 times higher than the estimated infection attack rate in general population, respectively. Suboptimal use of personal protective equipment was noted in both hospitals.ConclusionsThese data have implications for the preparedness of a second wave of COVID-19 epidemic, given the low burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection rate, in concordance with national projections.