SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence among Healthcare Workers in General Hospitals and Clinics in Japan

Tatsuya Yoshihara; Kazuya Ito; Masayoshi Zaitsu; Eunhee Chung; Izumi Aoyagi; Yoshikazu Kaji; Tomomi Tsuru; Takuma Yonemura; Koji Yamaguchi; Shinichi Nakayama; Yosuke Tanaka; Nobuo Yurino; Hideki Koyanagi; Shunji Matsuki; Ryuji Urae; Shin Irie

doi:10.3390/ijerph18073786

SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence among Healthcare Workers in General Hospitals and Clinics in Japan

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 5;18(7):3786. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18073786.

Authors

Tatsuya Yoshihara¹, Kazuya Ito^{2

3}, Masayoshi Zaitsu⁴, Eunhee Chung⁵, Izumi Aoyagi⁶, Yoshikazu Kaji⁷, Tomomi Tsuru⁸, Takuma Yonemura⁹, Koji Yamaguchi¹⁰, Shinichi Nakayama¹¹, Yosuke Tanaka¹², Nobuo Yurino¹³, Hideki Koyanagi¹⁴, Shunji Matsuki¹, Ryuji Urae¹⁵, Shin Irie¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Clinical Research Center, SOUSEIKAI Fukuoka Mirai Hospital, Kashiiteriha 3-5-1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 813-0017, Japan.
² SOUSEIKAI Clinical Epidemiological Research Center, Kashiiteriha 3-5-1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 813-0017, Japan.
³ College of Healthcare Management, Takayanagi 960-4, Setaka-machi, Miyama 835-0018, Japan.
⁴ Department of Public Health, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, 880 Kitakobayashi, Mibu-machi, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan.
⁵ SOUSEIKAI Global Clinical Research Center, Kashiiteriha 3-5-1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 813-0017, Japan.
⁶ Department of Internal Medicine, SOUSEIKAI Fukuoka Mirai Hospital, Kashiiteriha 3-5-1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 813-0017, Japan.
⁷ SOUSEIKAI Hakata Clinic, 6-18 Tenyamachi, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka 812-0025, Japan.
⁸ SOUSEIKAI PS Clinic, 6-18 Tenyamachi, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka 812-0025, Japan.
⁹ SOUSEIKAI Sumida Hospital, 1-29-1, Honjo, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-0004, Japan.
¹⁰ SOUSEIKAI Nishikumamoto Hospital, 1012 Koga, Tomiaimachi, Minami-ku, Kumamoto 861-4157, Japan.
¹¹ SOUSEIKAI Miyata Hospital, 1636 Honjo, Miyawaka, Fukuoka 823-0003, Japan.
¹² SOUSEIKAI Kanenokuma Hospital, 3-24-16 Kanenokuma, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka 812-0863, Japan.
¹³ SOUSEIKAI Shinyoshizuka Hospital, 7-6-29, Yoshizuka, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka 812-0041, Japan.
¹⁴ SOUSEIKAI Dodo Clinic, 1-31-13, Nakaikegami, Ota-ku, Tokyo 146-0081, Japan.
¹⁵ SOUSEIKAI, 3-5-1 Kashiiteriha, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 813-0017, Japan.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a serious public health problem worldwide. In general, healthcare workers are considered to be at higher risk of COVID-19 infection. However, the prevalence of COVID-19 among healthcare workers in Japan is not well characterized. In this study, we aimed to examine the seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies among 2160 healthcare workers in hospitals and clinics that are not designated to treat COVID-19 patients in Japan. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G was 1.2% in August and October 2020 (during and after the second wave of the pandemic in Japan), which is relatively higher than that in the general population in Japan (0.03-0.91%). Because of the higher risk of COVID-19 infection, healthcare workers should be the top priority for further social support and vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; antibody; healthcare workers; seroprevalence.

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Viral
COVID-19*
Health Personnel
Hospitals, General
Humans
Japan / epidemiology
SARS-CoV-2*
Seroepidemiologic Studies

Substances

Antibodies, Viral

Associated data

UMIN-CTR/UMIN000041262