Frontiers in Medicine (Feb 2022)

High SARS-CoV-2 Infection Rates Among Special Forces Police Units During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ecuador

  • Esteban Ortiz-Prado,
  • Felipe Andrade,
  • Eduardo Vasconez,
  • Cristina Escobar-Espinosa,
  • Alexander Paolo Vallejo-Janeta,
  • Alexander Paolo Vallejo-Janeta,
  • Byron Freire-Paspuel,
  • Barbara Coronel,
  • Heberson Galvis,
  • Diana Morales-Jadan,
  • Diana Morales-Jadan,
  • Ismar A. Rivera-Olivero,
  • Tannya Lozada,
  • Aquiles R. Henriquez-Trujillo,
  • Miguel Angel Garcia-Bereguiain,
  • the UDLA-COVID-19 Team,
  • Tatiana Jaramillo,
  • Daniela Santander Gordon,
  • Gabriel Alfredo Iturralde,
  • Julio Alejandro Teran,
  • Karen Marcela Vasquez,
  • Jonathan Dario Rondal,
  • Genoveva Granda,
  • Ana Cecilia Santamaria,
  • Cynthia Lorena Pino,
  • Oscar Lenin Espinosa,
  • Angie Buitron,
  • David Sanchez Grisales,
  • Karina Beatriz Jimenez,
  • Vanessa Bastidas,
  • Dayana Marcela Aguilar,
  • Ines Maria Paredes,
  • Christian David Bilvao,
  • Maria Belen Paredes-Espinosa,
  • Angel S. Rodriguez,
  • Juan Carlos Laglaguano,
  • Henry Herrera,
  • Pablo Marcelo Espinosa,
  • Edison Andres Galarraga,
  • Marlon Steven Zambrano-Mila,
  • Ana Maria Tito,
  • Nelson David Zapata

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2021.735821
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8

Abstract

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BackgroundAt the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, health workers and first-responders, such as police officers, were in charge of trying to contain a disease that was unknown at that time. The lack of information and the tremendous need to contain new outbreaks put police officers at higher risk.MethodologyA cross-sectional study was conducted to describe SARS-CoV-2 infection rates among Police Special Forces Officers in Quito, Ecuador. In this study, 163 community-dwelling police officers from elite divisions voluntarily participated in our SARS-CoV-2 detection program using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR).ResultsA total of 20 out of 163 police officers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, yielding an infection rate of 12.3%. Within this cohort, 10% (2/20) of SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals were potentially super spreaders with viral loads over 108 copies/ul. About 85% of the SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals were asymptomatic and 15% reported mild symptoms related to COVID-19.ConclusionsWe found a high SARS-CoV-2 infection rate within the special forces police officers that, beyond a high health risk for themselves, their families, and coworkers. Our results point out the need for permanent SARS-CoV-2 testing among asymptomatic essential workers and first-responders to avoid local outbreaks and to prevent work-place absenteeism among police special units.

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