Impact of second wave of COVID-19 on health care workers in India

AbstractGreece is a country with limited spread of SARS-CoV-2 and cumulative infection attack rate of 0.12% (95%CI 0.06%-0.26%). Health care workers (HCWs) are a well-recognized risk group for COVID-19. The study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in two hospitals and assess potential risk factors. Hospital-1 was involved in the care of COVID-19 patients while hospital-2 was not. A validated, rapid, IgM/IgG antibody point-of care test was used. 1,495 individuals consented to participate (response rate 77%). The anti-SARS-CoV-2 weighted prevalence was 1.07% (95%CI 0.37-1.78) overall and 0.44% (95%CI 0.12-1.13) and 2.4% (95%CI 0.51-8.19) in hospital-1 and hospital-2, respectively. The overall, hospital-1, and hospital-2 seroprevalence was 9, 3 and 20 times higher than the estimated infection attack rate in general population, respectively. Suboptimal use of personal protective equipment was noted in both hospitals. These data have implications for the preparedness of a second wave of COVID-19 epidemic.

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Effectiveness of Preventive Measures in Keeping Low Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Health Care Workers in a Referral Children’s Hospital in Southern Italy

Pediatric Reports ◽

10.3390/pediatric13010017 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 118-124

Author(s):

Désirée Caselli ◽

Daniela Loconsole ◽

Rita Dario ◽

Maria Chironna ◽

Maurizio Aricò

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Southern Italy ◽

Hospital Setting ◽

Nasopharyngeal Swab ◽

Rt Pcr ◽

Children's Hospital ◽

Care Workers ◽

Children’S Hospital ◽

Second Wave

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic now represents a major threat to public health. Health care workers (HCW) are exposed to biological risk. Little is currently known about the risk of HCW operating in pediatric wards for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The aim is to assess the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCW in a third-level children’s hospital in Southern Italy. An observational cohort study of all asymptomatic HCW (physician, technicians, nurses, and logistic and support operators) was conducted. HCW were screened, on a voluntary basis, for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal swab performed during the first wave of COVID-19. The study was then repeated, with the same modalities, at a 7-month interval, during the “second wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the initial screening between 7 and 24 April 2020, 525 HCW were tested. None of them tested positive. At the repeated screening, conducted between 9 and 20 November 2020, 627 HCW were tested, including 61 additional ones resulting from COVID-emergency recruitment. At this second screening, eight subjects (1.3%) tested positive, thus being diagnosed as asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2. They were one physician, five nurses, and two HCW from the logistic/support services. They were employed in eight different wards/services. In all cases, the epidemiological investigation showed convincing evidence that the infection was acquired through social contacts. The study revealed a very low circulation of SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCW tested with RT-PCR. All the infections documented in the second wave of epidemic of SARS-CoV-2 were acquired outside of the workplace, confirming that in a pediatric hospital setting, HCW education, correct use of personal protective equipment, and separation of the COVID-patient pathway and staff flow may minimize the risk derived from occupational exposure.

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Protective Effect of COVID-19 Vaccine Among Health Care Workers During the Second Wave of the pandemic in India

Mayo Clinic Proceedings ◽

10.1016/j.mayocp.2021.06.003 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Peter John Victor ◽

K Prasad Mathews ◽

Hema Paul ◽

Malathi Murugesan ◽

Joy J. Mammen

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Protective Effect ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Care Workers ◽

Second Wave

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COVID-19 in health care workers, Australia 2020

Communicable Diseases Intelligence ◽

10.33321/cdi.2021.45.57 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 45 ◽

Author(s):

Anna C Rafferty ◽

Moira C Hewitt ◽

Rose Wright ◽

Freya Hogarth ◽

Nick Coatsworth ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Worker ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Aged Care ◽

Residential Aged Care ◽

Health Care Settings ◽

Care Workers ◽

Care Facilities ◽

Care Worker ◽

Second Wave

Background Health care workers are at increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection due to potential exposure to patients or staff in health care settings. Australian health care services and health care workers experienced intense pressure to prepare for and respond to SARS-CoV-2 infections. We summarise national data on health care worker infections and associated outbreaks during 2020. Methods We collected aggregated data on infected health care workers and outbreaks in health care facilities from all jurisdictions. Health care workers working solely in residential aged care and outbreaks in residential aged care facilities were excluded. Jurisdictions provided data on the number of health care setting outbreaks, confirmed cases, hospitalisation, source of infection, and health care worker role. We analysed data for two periods that aligned with two distinct peaks in the epidemic relative to 1 June 2020, referred to here as the first wave (23 January – 31 May 2020) and the second wave (1 June – 18 September 2020). Results Jurisdictions reported a total of 2,163 health care worker infections with SARS-CoV-2 during the surveillance period. Source of acquisition was known for 81.0% of cases (1,667/2,059). The majority of cases in the first wave were acquired overseas, shifting to locally-acquired cases in the second wave. The odds of infection in the second wave compared to the first wave were higher for nurses/midwives (odds ratio, OR: 1.61; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.32–2.00), lower for medical practitioners (OR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.28–0.47) and did not differ for ‘other’ health care workers (OR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0. 87–1.32). The odds of infection in the second wave were higher in a health care setting (OR: 1.76; 95% CI: 1.28–2.41) than in the community. There were 120 outbreaks in health care settings with 1,428 cases, of which 56.7% (809/1,428) were health care workers. The majority (88/120; 73.8%) of outbreaks in health care settings occurred in the second wave of the epidemic, with 90.9% of these (80/88) occurring in Victoria. Conclusions In the second wave of the epidemic, when there was heightened community transmission, health care workers were more likely to be infected in the workplace. Throughout the epidemic, nurses were more likely to be infected than staff in other roles.

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Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 among health care workers in a country with low burden of COVID-19

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0243025 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (12) ◽

pp. e0243025 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mina Psichogiou ◽

Andreas Karabinis ◽

Ioanna D. Pavlopoulou ◽

Dimitrios Basoulis ◽

Konstantinos Petsios ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Attack Rate ◽

Point Of Care ◽

Igg Antibody ◽

Comparative Performance ◽

Point Of Care Test ◽

Care Workers ◽

Potential Risk Factors ◽

Second Wave

Introduction Greece is a country with limited spread of SARS-CoV-2 and cumulative infection attack rate of 0.12% (95% CI 0.06–0.26). Health care workers (HCWs) are a well-recognized risk group for COVID-19. The study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in a nosocomial setting and assess potential risk factors. Methods HCWs from two hospitals participated in the study. Hospital-1 was a tertiary university affiliated center, involved in the care of COVID-19 patients while hospital-2 was a tertiary specialized cardiac surgery center not involved in the care of these patients. A validated, CE, rapid, IgM/IgG antibody point-of-care test was used. Comparative performance with a reference globally available assay was assessed. Results 1,495 individuals consented to participate (response rate 77%). The anti-SARS-CoV-2 weighted prevalence was 1.26% (95% CI 0.43, 3.26) overall and 0.53% (95% CI 0.06, 2.78) and 2.70% (95% CI 0.57, 9.19) in hospital-1 and hospital-2, respectively although the study was underpowered to detect statistically significant differences. The overall, hospital-1, and hospital-2 seroprevalence was 10, 4 and 22 times higher than the estimated infection attack rate in general population, respectively. Suboptimal use of personal protective equipment was noted in both hospitals. Conclusions These data have implications for the preparedness of a second wave of COVID-19 epidemic, given the low burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection rate, in concordance with national projections.

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Sero-Prevalence and Sero-Incidence of Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in Health Care Workers in Israel, Prior to Mass COVID-19 Vaccination

Frontiers in Medicine ◽

10.3389/fmed.2021.689994 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Khitam Muhsen ◽

Mitchell J. Schwaber ◽

Jihad Bishara ◽

Eias Kassem ◽

Alaa Atamna ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

General Population ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Risk Group ◽

Serum Antibody ◽

Control Policy ◽

Care Workers ◽

Roche Diagnostics ◽

Second Wave

Objectives: This study aims to examine the prevalence and risk factors of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sero-positivity in health care workers (HCWs), a main risk group, and assess the sero-incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection between the first and second waves of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Israel.Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted among 874 HCWs from nine hospitals. Demographics, health information, and blood samples were obtained at baseline (first wave—April–May 2020) and at follow-up (n = 373) (second wave—September–November 2020). Sero-positivity was determined based on the detection of total antibodies to the nucleocapsid antigen of SARS-CoV-2, using electro-chemiluminescence immunoassay (Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2, Roche Diagnostics, Rotkreuz, Switzerland).Results: The sero-prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 1.1% [95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.6–2.1] at baseline and 8.3% (95% CI 5.9–11.6) at follow-up. The sero-conversion of SARS-CoV-2 serum antibody was 6.9% (95% CI 4.7–9.9) during the study period. The increase in SARS-CoV-2 sero-prevalence paralleled the rise in PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections among the HCWs across the country. The likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 sero-prevalence was higher in males vs. females [odds ratio (OR) 2.52 (95% CI 1.05–6.06)] and in nurses vs. physicians [OR 4.26 (95% CI 1.08–16.77)] and was associated with being quarantined due to exposure to COVID-19 patients [OR 3.54 (95% CI 1.58–7.89)] and having a positive PCR result [OR 109.5 (95% CI 23.88–502.12)].Conclusions: A significant increase in the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection was found among HCWs between the first and second waves of COVID-19 in Israel. Nonetheless, the sero-prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies remains low, similar to the general population. Our findings reinforce the rigorous infection control policy, including quarantine, and utilization of personal protective equipment that should be continued together with COVID-19 immunization in HCWs and the general population.

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Evaluation of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and their patterns of response in health care workers and general population at a tertiary care Centre

IP Indian Journal of Immunology and Respiratory Medicine ◽

10.18231/j.ijirm.2021.048 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 217-225

Author(s):

Srihita Mahavadi ◽

Deepika Gujjarlapudi ◽

Veeraiah Namburu ◽

Naveed Hassan ◽

Nageshwar Reddy Duvvur

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

General Population ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Rt Pcr ◽

Tertiary Care Centre ◽

Post Vaccination ◽

Care Workers ◽

Second Wave ◽

Serology Testing

SARS-CoV-2 (previously called 2019-nCoV), and was named in February 2020 as COVID-19 by the WHO. Estimate the seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in health care workers (HCW) and general population in the first and second wave and assess the pattern of antibody response in HCW with COVID-19 infected and non-infected over pre and post-vaccination. This was a cohort observational retrospective study done to analyse the seroprevalence in HCW from July-September 2020, in the general population in the first wave (December 2020–February 2021) and second wave (March–September 2021). SARS-CoV-2 testing by RT-PCR (QIAGEN Company). Testing for quantitative IgG and IgM (Abbott) antibodies, Total Antibodies (Roche), Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG RBD(Roche), and Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG S1/S2 (Diasorin XL), to assess the pattern of antibody responses categorized as baseline (before the first dose), 14 days after 1st dose, before 2nd dose (45 days post first dose), 14 days post-second dose. Among 1340 HCW, 1268 underwent RT-PCR testing, 540 serology testing and 431 underwent both testing. We identified 164 of 1268 positive RT-PCR and using serology testing 229 of 540 were seropositive. High seropositivity was observed in age group 26-45 years (44.9%) HCW, in males (65.9%), nurses (47.3%), and ward staff (48.6%). High seroprevalence in general population-76.07% in the 2nd wave compared to 1st wave (44.67%). SARS-CoV-2 antibodies showed gender associated seroprevalence and higher immune response was observed in COVID-19 infected than in non-infected HCW pre- and post-vaccination.

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