SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in healthcare workers: The experience of a Portuguese COVID-19 front-line hospital during the 1st pandemic wave

Angelica Ramos; Beatriz Araújo; Lisa Lacerda; Ana Lúcia Flora; Luis Ribeiro; Emília Patrício; Maria João Cardoso; João Tiago Guimarães

doi:10.1097/j.pbj.0000000000000166

SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in healthcare workers: The experience of a Portuguese COVID-19 front-line hospital during the 1st pandemic wave

Porto Biomed J. 2022 Jun 17;7(3):e166. doi: 10.1097/j.pbj.0000000000000166. eCollection 2022 May-Jun.

Authors

Angelica Ramos^{1

2}, Beatriz Araújo¹, Lisa Lacerda¹, Ana Lúcia Flora¹, Luis Ribeiro¹, Emília Patrício¹, Maria João Cardoso¹, João Tiago Guimarães^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Serviço de Patologia Clínica, Cento Hospitalar e Universitário de São João, Porto, Portugal.
² EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
³ Departamento de Biomedicina, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Portugal.

Abstract

Healthcare workers (HCW) are at increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here, we describe the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in HCW who work daily at a COVID-19 front-line hospital in Portugal.

Methods: To this end, the seroprevalence of 1027 HCW, assessed after the peak of the first pandemic wave, was determined using the following immunoassays: Euroimmun Anti-SARS-CoV-2 ELISA IgG (Euroimmun, Luebeck, Germany), Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG (Abbott Laboratories, Chicago), and Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Total (Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland).

Results: We found a 2.7% seroprevalence, very close to the one determined in the community (2.9%) for the same period.

Conclusions: This low SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence highlights the effectiveness of infection prevention and control measures implemented very early in the pandemic, namely the use of appropriate personal protective equipment.

Keywords: SARS-CoV–2; healthcare workers; seroprevalence.