scholarly journals COVID-19 serology in nephrology healthcare workers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Reiter ◽  
Sahra Pajenda ◽  
Ludwig Wagner ◽  
Martina Gaggl ◽  
Johanna Atamaniuk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Test System ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Neutralizing Capacity ◽  
Asymptomatic Individuals ◽  
Positive Controls

Summary Background Chronic kidney disease patients show a high mortality in cases of a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV‑2) infection. Thus, information on the sero-status of nephrology personnel might be crucial for patient protection; however, limited information exists about the presence of SARS-CoV‑2 antibodies in asymptomatic individuals. Methods We examined the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV‑2 IgG and IgM antibodies among healthcare workers of a tertiary care kidney center during the the first peak phase of the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis in Austria using an orthogonal test strategy and a total of 12 commercial nucleocapsid protein or spike glycoprotein-based assays as well as Western blotting and a neutralization assay. Results At baseline 60 of 235 study participants (25.5%, 95% confidence interval, CI 20.4–31.5%) were judged to be borderline positive or positive for IgM or IgG using a high sensitivity/low specificity threshold in one test system. Follow-up analysis after about 2 weeks revealed IgG positivity in 12 (5.1%, 95% CI: 2.9–8.8%) and IgM positivity in 6 (2.6%, 95% CI: 1.1–5.6) in at least one assay. Of the healthcare workers 2.1% (95% CI: 0.8–5.0%) showed IgG nucleocapsid antibodies in at least 2 assays. By contrast, positive controls with proven COVID-19 showed antibody positivity among almost all test systems. Moreover, serum samples obtained from healthcare workers did not show SARS-CoV‑2 neutralizing capacity, in contrast to positive controls. Conclusion Using a broad spectrum of antibody tests the present study revealed inconsistent results for SARS-CoV‑2 seroprevalence among asymptomatic individuals, while this was not the case among COVID-19 patients. Trial registration number CONEC, ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT04347694

scholarly journals Covid-19 serology in nephrology health care workers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Reiter ◽  
Sahra Pajenda ◽  
Ludwig Wagner ◽  
Martina Gaggl ◽  
Johanna Atamaniuk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Workers ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Test System ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Neutralizing Capacity ◽  
Asymptomatic Individuals ◽  
Positive Controls

Background: Chronic kidney disease patients show a high mortality in case of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, to be informed on Nephrology personnel's sero-status might be crucial for patient protection. However, limited information exists about the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in asymptomatic individuals. Methods: We examined the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM antibodies among health care workers of a tertiary care kidney center during the peak phase of the Covid-19 crisis in Austria using an orthogonal test strategy and a total of 12 commercial nucleocapsid protein or spike glycoprotein based assays as well as Western blotting and a neutralization assay. Results: At baseline 60 of 235 study participants (25.5%, 95% CI: 20.4-31.5) were judged to be borderline positive or positive for IgM or IgG using a high sensitivity/low specificity threshold in one test system. Follow-up analysis after about two weeks revealed IgG positivity in 12 (5.1%, 95% CI: 2.9-8.8) and IgM positivity in six (2.6%, 95% CI: 1.1-5.6) in at least one assay. 2.1% (95% CI: 0.8-5.0) of health care workers showed IgG nucleocapsid antibodies in at least two assays. By contrast, positive controls with proven Covid-19 showed antibody positivity among almost all test systems. Moreover, serum samples obtained from health care workers did not show SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing capacity, in contrast to positive controls. Conclusions: Using a broad spectrum of antibody tests the present study revealed inconsistent results for SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among asymptomatic individuals, while this was not the case among Covid-19 patients.

scholarly journals COMPARISON OF PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS BETWEEN LATERAL FLOW, ELISAAND ELECTROCHEMILUMINESCENCE IMMUNOASSAYS FOR THE DETECTION OF SARS-COV-2 ANTIBODIES AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS

2021 ◽  
pp. 45-48
Author(s):  
Shincy M R ◽  
Vandana Govindan ◽  
Sudhakar H H ◽  
Padmapriya K ◽  
Venkatesha V T ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Care Pathway ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Central Research ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Igg Antibody ◽  
Human Igg ◽  
Serological Tests

Background: The detection of SARS-CoV-2 IgG is important to determine the course of COVID-19. Medical professionals and researchers have been urging the need for wide and rapid testing of citizens in order to plan measures that can contain the spread of the virus. Antibody tests play an important role throughout the patient care pathway and are vital for the management and surveillance of the virus. Although RTPCR is considered to be the gold standard, serological tests based on antibodies could be very helpful for on-time detection. We performed one to one assessment of electrochemiluminescence immunoassay, enzyme immunoassay (EIAs), and point-of-care lateral ow assay (POCTs) to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) IgG antibody. Materials and Methods: 611 healthcare workers were recruited between November and December 2020 at Central Research Laboratory, KIMS. ® Collected serum samples were analysed using three commercially available assays: the Elecsys , Anti-SARS CoV-2 Human IgG ELISA, the Standard Q IgG/IgM combo assay following the manufacturer's protocol to measure the IgG titer of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Results:The kits displayed a sensitivity of 91.8%, 79.5% ,61.2% and a specicity of 80.2%, 64.1% ,61.7% in order. Conclusion: ® Our results indicate a high sensitivity and specicity for the Elecsys assay compared to Anti-SARS CoV-2 Human IgG ELISA, the Standard Q IgG/IgM combo assays.

scholarly journals High anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence in healthcare workers in an Irish university teaching hospital

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Leonard ◽  
Anna Rose Prior ◽  
Phyllis Reilly ◽  
Caroline Murray ◽  
Meghan O’ Brien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Antibody Test ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Transmission Risk ◽  
Molecular Testing ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Patient Contact ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Joint Research

Abstract Introduction Healthcare workers are at very high risk for SARS-CoV-2 exposure and infection. This study evaluated anti-SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in healthcare workers in a tertiary care hospital and then correlated seroprevalence with confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection in this population since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method The study was approved by our institution’s Joint Research Ethics Committee in June 2020. All volunteers were provided with a consent form, an information leaflet and a questionnaire on the day before phlebotomy. Serum samples were collected from 1176 participants over a 3-month period and analysed using the Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 assay (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) which detects total antibodies against the nucleocapsid protein of SARs-COV-2. Results Overall anti-SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among participating healthcare workers was 17.9%. The rate of confirmed infection by real-time polymerase chain reaction molecular testing prior to participation was 12.2%. Of 211 participants who had a reactive antibody test result, 37% did not have COVID-19 infection confirmed at any point prior to participation in this study, either having had a swab which did not detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA or having never been tested. Seropositivity was the highest (30%) in the youngest quintile of age (20–29 years old). Staff with more patient contact had a higher seroprevalence of 19.5% compared to 13.4% in staff with less patient contact. Conclusion This study demonstrates that a substantial proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infections in healthcare workers may be asymptomatic or subclinical and thus potentially represent a significant transmission risk to colleagues and patients.

scholarly journals Long-Term Persistence of IgG Antibodies in SARS-CoV Infected Healthcare Workers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqin Guo ◽  
Zhongmin Guo ◽  
Chaohui Duan ◽  
Zeliang Chen ◽  
Guoling Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Igg Antibodies ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Humoral Immune ◽  
Humoral Immune Responses ◽  
Time Of Infection ◽  
Specific Igg ◽  
High Level

ABSTRACTBACKGROUNDThe ongoing worldwide outbreak of the 2019-nCoV is markedly similar to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak 17 years ago. During the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak, healthcare workers formed a special population of patients. Although virus-specific IgG play important roles in virus neutralization and prevention against future infection, limited information is available regarding the long term persistence of IgG after infection with SARS-like coronavirus.METHODSA long-term prospective cohort study followed 34 SARS-CoV-infected healthcare workers from a hospital with clustered infected cases during the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak in Guangzhou, China, with a 13-year follow-up. Serum samples were collected annually from 2003-2015. Twenty SARS-CoV-infected and 40 non-infected healthcare workers were enrolled in 2015, and their serum samples were collected. All sera were tested for IgG antibodies with ELISA using whole virus and a recombinant nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV, as a diagnostic antigen.RESULTSAnti SARS-CoV IgG was found to persist for up to 12 years. IgG titers typically peaked in 2004, declining rapidly from 2004-2006, and then continued to decline at a slower rate. IgG titers in SARS-CoV-infected healthcare workers remained at a significantly high level until 2015. Patients treated with corticosteroids at the time of infection were found to have lower IgG titers than those without.CONCLUSIONSIgG antibodies against SARS-CoV can persist for at least 12 years. The presence of SARS-CoV IgG might provide protection against SARS-CoV and other betacoronavirus. This study provides valuable information regarding humoral immune responses against SARS-CoV and the 2019-nCoV.

scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody prevalence in health care personnel in a tertiary care teaching hospital treating COVID-19 patients

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Padmapriya ◽  
Akshata Krishna Prabhu ◽  
Shincy Mettingal Ramakrishnan ◽  
Ravikumar Kadahalli Lingegowda ◽  
Sudhakar Honnamachanahalli
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Teaching Hospital ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Tertiary Hospital ◽  
Health Care Personnel ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Care Workers

Background: Serosurvey is a salient method for estimating infection rates and monitoring the progression of a pandemic. This study was done to determine the extent of seroprevalence of SARS-COV-2 antibodies among health care personnel of a tertiary care hospital.Methods: Serum samples of 532 participants working in a teaching hospital which provides tertiary care services to the poor were tested for SARS-CoV-2-IgG antibodies. A questionnaire was used to collect demographic details and hygiene practices.Results: 160 (30%) out of the 532 participants had IgG levels above the positive cut off value. The seroprevalence was higher in the nurses when compared to other class of staff working in the hospital.Conclusions: The present study shows that the overall seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare workers of a tertiary hospital in Bengaluru is high. This indicates that there is a need for the health care workers to take better precautions while treating COVID patients and emphasis should be given in training them to adhere to more stringent hygienic practices.

scholarly journals Awareness of COVID-19 infection and mental health screening among medical students

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Santosh Kumar Madhusudhan ◽  
Harish Kumar Suryaprakash ◽  
Srinivas Lokikere Devendrappa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Mental Status ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Psychological Issue ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The People ◽  
The Mean

Background: Novel corona virus disease (COVID-19) has spread throughout the world causing massive morbidity and mortality. The infection has drastically changed the way of living in the current situation. This change has led to higher levels of fear, anxiety and confusion in the minds of the people. The behavior of people influenced by their knowledge and mental status has a huge bearing on the course of COVID-19 pandemic. This study evaluates the awareness of COVID-19 infection and screens the mental health status of medical students of a tertiary care teaching hospital.Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational survey conducted on an online platform. A predesigned questionnaire was created using google forms and sent to 912 medical students. Ten questions were used to assess knowledge and awareness on COVID-19 and a fear of COVID-19 scale rated on a 5-point Likert was used to screen mental status. Results: 641 students responded to the survey. Almost 95.5% of students lived with their family during the lockdown period. The mean score was 8.15±1.05 for awareness and knowledge. The overall awareness and knowledge of COVID-19 was satisfactory with 81.49% reporting correct answers. Almost 40% of participants were most afraid of COVID-19, 34% became nervous or anxious, watching news and nearly 20% were afraid of losing life because of COVID-19.Conclusions: Currently in the peak of infection, our focus is on reducing transmission and preventing mortality. Managing psychological issue of people, especially healthcare workers is equally important during this pandemic. Enhanced awareness to disease and providing psychological support will allay COVID-19 fears among the people.   

TO DETERMINE THE ROLE OF CA125 IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinod Kumar ◽  
Bhupen Songra ◽  
Richa Jain ◽  
Deeksha Mehta
Keyword(s):  
Acute Appendicitis ◽  
Clinical Diagnosis ◽  
Tertiary Care Hospital ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Ca 125 ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Roc Curve Analysis ◽  
Surgery Department

Background: the present study was under taken to determine the role of CA-125 in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA), to prevent its complications and also in preventing negative appendicectomies in tertiary care hospital. Methods: The study was conducted at a tertiary care and research center between 01/03/2018 to 30/06/2019. Patients admitted to the surgery department with diagnosis of AA were considered for the study. After informed consent, a, standardized history was obtained as a case Performa. Serum samples from all the cases with clinical diagnosis of AA were obtained and stored. Only the cases with histopathologically approved AA were included in the study. Cases operated for clinical diagnosis of AA, but not histopathologically proven AA was not included in the study. CA125 levels in cases with definitive diagnosis of AA were measured. Results: In present study, ROC curve analysis revealed the sensitivity of 87.27 % and specificity of 90.91 % when the CA 125 cut-off value of > 16.8 was taken to diagnose acute appendicitis. AUC was 0.911 with a standard error of 0.0292. Conclusion: In this study we have observed that CA125 showed a positive correlation with acute appendicitis, that was statistically not significant (P>0.05). We didn’t evaluate the correlation with the disease severity. We consider that CA125 can be used as a marker in acute appendicitis cases although further research is still needed. Keywords: CA125, Acute Appendicitis, Surgery.

scholarly journals Investigations, actions and learning from an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers in the United Kingdom

2020 ◽  
pp. 175717742097679
Author(s):  
Kordo Saeed ◽  
Emanuela Pelosi ◽  
Nitin Mahobia ◽  
Nicola White ◽  
Christopher Labdon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Healthcare Facility ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Current Infection ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
A Current

Background: We report an outbreak of SARS coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among healthcare workers (HCW) in an NHS elective healthcare facility. Methodology: A narrative chronological account of events after declaring an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 among HCWs. As part of the investigations, HCWs were offered testing during the outbreak. These were: (1) screening by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) to detect a current infection; and (2) serum samples to determine seroprevalence. Results: Over 180 HCWs were tested by real-time RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The rate of infection was 15.2% (23.7% for clinical or directly patient-facing HCWs vs. 4.8% in non-clinical non-patient-facing HCWs). Of the infected HCWs, 57% were asymptomatic. Seroprevalence (SARS-CoV-2 IgG) among HCWs was 13%. It was challenging to establish an exact source for the outbreak. The importance of education, training, social distancing and infection prevention practices were emphasised. Additionally, avoidance of unnecessary transfer of patients and minimising cross-site working for staff and early escalation were highlighted. Establishing mass and regular screening for HCWs are also crucial to enabling the best care for patients while maintaining the wellbeing of staff. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first UK outbreak report among HCWs and we hope to have highlighted some key issues and learnings that can be considered by other NHS staff and HCWs globally when dealing with such a task in future.

scholarly journals Vaccination strategy and anti - SARS-CoV-2 S titers in healthcare workers of the INT – IRCCS “Fondazione Pascale” Cancer Center (Naples, Italy)

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernesta Cavalcanti ◽  
Maria Antonietta Isgrò ◽  
Domenica Rea ◽  
Lucia Di Capua ◽  
Giusy Trillò ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Vaccination Strategy ◽  
Antibody Responses ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Humoral Immune ◽  
History Of

Abstract Background Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and the resulting disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), have spread to millions of people globally, requiring the development of billions of different vaccine doses. The SARS-CoV-2 spike mRNA vaccine (named BNT162b2/Pfizer), authorized by the FDA, has shown high efficacy in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection after administration of two doses in individuals 16 years of age and older. In the present study, we retrospectively evaluated the differences in the SARS-CoV-2 humoral immune response after vaccine administration in the two different cohorts of workers at the INT - IRCCS “Fondazione Pascale” Cancer Center (Naples, Italy): previously infected to SARS-CoV-2 subjects and not infected to SARS-CoV-2 subjects. Methods We determined specific anti-RBD (receptor-binding domain) titers against trimeric spike glycoprotein (S) of SARS-CoV-2 by Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S immunoassay in serum samples of 35 healthcare workers with a previous documented history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and 158 healthcare workers without, after 1 and 2 doses of vaccine, respectively. Moreover, geometric mean titers and relative fold changes (FC) were calculated. Results Both previously infected and not infected to SARS-CoV-2 subjects developed significant immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 after the administration of 1 and 2 doses of vaccine, respectively. Anti-S antibody responses to the first dose of vaccine were significantly higher in previously SARS-CoV-2-infected subjects in comparison to titers of not infected subjects after the first as well as the second dose of vaccine. Fold changes for subjects previously infected to SARS-CoV-2 was very modest, given the high basal antibody titer, as well as the upper limit of 2500.0 BAU/mL imposed by the Roche methods. Conversely, for naïve subjects, mean fold change following the first dose was low ($$ \overline{x} $$ x ¯ =1.6), reaching 3.8 FC in 72 subjects (45.6%) following the second dose. Conclusions The results showed that, as early as the first dose, SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals developed a remarkable and statistically significant immune response in comparison to those who did not contract the virus previously, suggesting the possibility of administering only one dose in previously SARS-CoV-2-infected subjects. FC for previously infected subjects should not be taken into account for the generally high pre-vaccination values. Conversely, FC for not infected subjects, after the second dose, were = 3.8 in > 45.0% of vaccinees, and ≤ 3.1 in 19.0%, the latter showing a potential susceptibility to further SARS-CoV-2 infection.

scholarly journals Epidemiological investigation of porcine circovirus type 2 and its coinfection rate in Shandong province in China from 2015 to 2018

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zicheng Ma ◽  
Mengda Liu ◽  
Zhaohu Liu ◽  
Fanliang Meng ◽  
Hongyu Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pseudorabies Virus ◽  
Porcine Circovirus Type ◽  
Porcine Circovirus Type 2 ◽  
Shandong Province ◽  
Porcine Circovirus ◽  
Respiratory Syndrome Virus ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Diarrhea Virus

Abstract Background Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is one of the crucial swine viral pathogens, caused porcine circovirus associated diseases (PCVAD). Shandong province is one of the most important pork producing areas and bears a considerable economic loss due to PCVAD. However, there is limited information on epidemiology and coinfection rate of PCV2 with other critical swine diseases in this area, such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), classical swine fever virus (CSFV), Pseudorabies virus (PRV), and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). Results Overall, 89.59% serum samples and 36.98% tissue samples were positive for PCV2 specified ELISA and PCR positive for PCV2, respectively. The coinfection rates of PCV2 with PRRSV, PRV, CSFV, and PEDV were 26.73%, 18.37%, 13.06%, and 3.47%, respectively. Moreover, genetic characteristic of PCV2 were analyzed based on the cap genes showing that PCV2d is the dominant sub-genotype circulating in the province. Conclusions Our findings reveal that PCV2d, as the dominant strain, is prevailing in pig farms in Shandong province at high levels. There was a high frequency of coinfection of PCV2 and PRRSV.

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