SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity among pediatric health care personnel after the first peak of the pandemic: nationwide surveillance in Turkey


Oygar P. D., BÜYÜKCAM A., Bal Z. S., Dalgic N., Bozdemir S. E., Karbuz A., ...Daha Fazla

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, cilt.113, ss.184-189, 2021 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 113
  • Basım Tarihi: 2021
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.09.054
  • Dergi Adı: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Veterinary Science Database, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.184-189
  • Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

Background: Understanding SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among health care personnel is important to ex-plore risk factors for transmission, develop elimination strategies and form a view on the necessity and frequency of surveillance in the future. Methods: We enrolled 4927 health care personnel working in pediatric units at 32 hospitals from 7 different regions of Turkey in a study to determine SARS Co-V-2 seroprevalence after the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. A point of care serologic lateral flow rapid test kit for immunoglobulin (Ig)M/IgG was used. Seroprevalence and its association with demographic characteristics and possible risk factors were analyzed. Results: SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity prevalence in health care personnel tested was 6.1%. Seropositivity was more common among those who did not universally wear protective masks (10.6% vs 6.1%). Having a COVID-19-positive co-worker increased the likelihood of infection. The least and the most experienced personnel were more likely to be infected. Most of the seropositive health care personnel (68.0%) did not suspect that they had previously had COVID-19. Conclusions: Health surveillance for health care personnel involving routine point-of-care nucleic acid testing and monitoring personal protective equipment adherence are suggested as important strategies to protect health care personnel from COVID-19 and reduce nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 transmission. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases.