SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence Among Health Care Workers in Major Private and Public Hospitals With COVID-19 Patient's Referral in Tehran, Iran

Estimating the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody seropositivity among health care workers (HCWs) is crucial. In this study, the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among HCWs of five hospitals of Tehran, Iran with high COVID-19 patient's referrals from April to June, 2020, was assessed...

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Published in:	Frontiers in public health Vol. 10; p. 832003
Main Authors:	Darvishian, Maryam, Sharafkhah, Maryam, Mohammadi, Zahra, Sadeghniiat-Haghighi, Khosro, Abdollahi, Alireza, Jafary, Mohamadreza, Talaschian, Mona, Tabarsi, Payam, Baghai, Parvaneh, Mardani, Masoud, Shayanrad, Amaneh, Shafighian, Fatemeh, Markarian, Melineh, Roozafzai, Farzin, Zamani, Mohammad, Alvand, Saba, Hariri, Sanam, Sadeghi, Anahita, Poustchi, Hossein, Malekzadeh, Reza
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 24-03-2022
Subjects:	COVID-19 health-care worker personal protective equipment Public Health SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence COVID-19 seroprevalence SARS-CoV-2 personal protective equipment health-care worker
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Summary:	Estimating the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody seropositivity among health care workers (HCWs) is crucial. In this study, the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among HCWs of five hospitals of Tehran, Iran with high COVID-19 patient's referrals from April to June, 2020, was assessed. In this cross-sectional study, HCWs from three public and two private hospitals, selected randomly as a pilot, were included. Participants were asked questions on their demographic characteristics, medical history, hospital role, and usage of personal protective equipment (PPE). Iran FDA-approved SARS-CoV-2 ELISA kits were used to detect IgG and IgM antibodies in blood samples. The seroprevalence was estimated on the basis of ELISA test results and adjusted for test performance. Among the 2,065 participants, 1,825 (88.4%) and 240 (11.6%) HCWs were recruited from public and private hospitals, respectively. A total of 340 HCWs were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG or IgM antibodies, and 17.9% of seropositive individuals were asymptomatic. The overall test performance-adjusted seroprevalence estimate among HCWs was 22.6 (95% CI: 20.2-25.1), and PPE usage was significantly higher among HCWs of public vs. private hospitals (66.5 vs. 20.0%). This study found that seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among HCWs was higher in private hospitals (37.0%; 95% CI: 28.6-46.2) than public hospitals (20.7%; 95% CI: 18.2-23.3), and also highest among assistant nurses and nurses, and lowest among janitor or superintendent categories. The PPE usage was especially suboptimal among HCWs in private hospitals. Continued effort in access to adequate PPE and regular screening of hospital staff for detecting asymptomatic personnel, especially during the upcoming wave of infection, are warranted.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 This article was submitted to Infectious Diseases - Surveillance, Prevention and Treatment, a section of the journal Frontiers in Public Health Reviewed by: Dilaram Acharya, Université de Montréal, Canada; Bijaya Kumar Padhi, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), India These authors have contributed equally to this work and share first authorship Edited by: Andrea Gori, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
ISSN:	2296-2565 2296-2565
DOI:	10.3389/fpubh.2022.832003