Sero-surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare providers in four hospitals in Thailand one year after the first community outbreak

PLoS One. 2021 Jul 14;16(7):e0254563. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254563. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Background: Thailand was the first country outside China to report SARS-CoV-2 infected cases. Since the detection of the first imported case on January 12th, 2020 to the time this report was written, Thailand experienced two waves of community outbreaks (March-April 2020 and December 2020-March 2021). We examined prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity among healthcare providers (HCPs) in four hospitals approximately one year after SARS-CoV-2 first detected in Thailand. By March 2021, these hospitals have treated a total of 709 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.

Methods: Blood specimens, collected from COVID-19 unvaccinated HCPs during January-March 2021, were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to nucleocapsid (IgG-nucleocapsid) and spike (IgG-spike) proteins using Euroimmune® enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Results: Of 600 HCPs enrolled, 1 (0.2%) tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 IgG-spike antibodies, but not the IgG-nucleocapsid.

Conclusion: The presence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies was rare in this sample of HCPs, suggesting that this population remains susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antibodies, Viral / blood*
  • COVID-19 / diagnosis
  • COVID-19 / epidemiology*
  • COVID-19 / immunology
  • Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins / immunology*
  • Female
  • Health Personnel*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Population Surveillance
  • Prospective Studies
  • SARS-CoV-2 / immunology*
  • Seroepidemiologic Studies
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus / immunology*
  • Thailand / epidemiology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
  • spike glycoprotein, SARS-CoV