Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 Infection among Healthcare Workers of a German COVID-19 Treatment Center

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 18; no. 13; p. 7057
• Main Authors: Larribère, Lionel, Gordejeva, Jelizaveta, Kuhnhenn, Lisa, Kurscheidt, Maximilian, Pobiruchin, Monika, Vladimirova, Dilyana, Martin, Maria, Roser, Markus, Schramm, Wendelin, Martens, Uwe M, Eigenbrod, Tatjana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.07.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Antibodies; Automation; Confined spaces; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 Drug Treatment; Disease transmission; Employees; Gender; Health care; Health Personnel; Hospitals; Humans; Hygiene; Immunoassay; Infections; Laboratories; Masks; Medical personnel; Medical supplies; Olfaction; Pandemics; Patients; Personal protective equipment; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Risk factors; SARS-CoV-2; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Serology; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Smell; Surveillance; Germany; COVID-19; infection risk; epidemiology; SARS-CoV-2; transmission; infectious disease; health care workers
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18137057

To date, more than 160 million people have been infected with COVID-19 worldwide. In the present study, we investigated the history of SARS-CoV-2 infection among 3067 healthcare workers (HCW) in a German COVID-19 treatment center during the early phase of the pandemic (July 2020) based on the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and self-reported previous PCR results. The results demonstrate a low prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection ( = 107 [3.5%]) with no increased risk for employees with a high level of patient exposure in general or working in COVID-19-confined areas in particular. This suggests that the local hygiene standards implemented in our hospital during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic were effective in preventing patient-to-HCW transmission. No evidence for highly mobile staff serving as a vector for SARS-CoV-2 transmission could be found. In addition, impairment of smell and/or taste was strongly associated with SARS-CoV-2 history.