Differences in risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are a risk group for SARS-CoV-2 infection, but which healthcare work that conveys risk and to what extent such risk can be prevented is not clear. Starting on April 24th, 2020, all employees at work (n = 15,300) at the Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden were invited and 92% consented to participate in a SARS-CoV-2 cohort study. Complete SARS-CoV-2 serology was available for n = 12,928 employees and seroprevalences were analyzed by age, sex, profession, patient contact, and hospital department.

Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and risk of past or future sick leave.

The extent that antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 may protect against future virus-associated disease is unknown. We invited all employees (n = 15,300) at work at the Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden to participate in a study examining SARS-Cov-2 antibodies in relation to registered sick leave. For consenting 12,928 healthy hospital employees antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 could be determined and compared to participant sick leave records.

High Amounts of SARS-CoV-2 Precede Sickness Among Asymptomatic Health Care Workers.

Background: Whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positivity among asymptomatic subjects reflects past or future disease may be difficult to ascertain.

Methods: We tested 9449 employees at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden for SARS-CoV-2 RNA and antibodies, linked the results to sick leave records, and determined associations with past or future sick leave using multinomial logistic regression.

Results: Subjects with high amounts of SARS-CoV-2 virus, indicated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cycle threshold (Ct) value, had the highest risk for sick leave in the 2 weeks after testing (odds ratio [OR], 11.