Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) have been a critical and vulnerable population during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The aim of this study was to determine the overall seroprevalence and to evaluate occupational risk factors among HCWs in one of the countries most affected by this pandemic.
Methods: We conducted a seroprevalence study for SARS-CoV-2 in a tertiary hospital in Madrid (Spain) between 24 April and 8 May 2020. A total of 4894 HCWs were invited for serologic testing. Serum samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG antibodies using Enzyme Immunoassay (ELISA) and Electro-Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (ECLIA) techniques. We calculated odds ratios to assess association between demographic and occupational characteristics with SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion.
Results: We processed 4324 serum samples. Overall, seroprevalence was of 16.6% (95% CI: 15.5-17.7). We found statistically significant differences in SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence by type of employee, professional category, department and type of activity performed during the pandemic period, while no differences were identified between the personnel working in the COVID-19 wards compared to those working in non-COVID-19 wards. We confirmed 268 (26.7%) infections among 1005 hospital staff members tested by PCR. 60.5% of HCWs infected by SARS-CoV-2, assessed either by PCR or serology, could be considered asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic.
Conclusions: HCWs have an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection but COVID-19 patient exposure was not a determining factor. Universal mask wearing should be mandatory in healthcare settings given the important number of asymptomatic and paucisymptomatic cases.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23744235.2021.1963468 | DOI Listing |
Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients commonly exhibit significant morbidity and experience a diminished quality of life. Since there has been no prior research on pneumonia in our study population, we carried out this study to learn more about the situation.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of 912 COPD patients with CAP who were receiving ICS treatment at the DHQ Hospital in Muzaffargarh, Punjab, Pakistan was conducted.
Life Med
August 2024
Institute of Immunology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 311100, China.
The immune responses following SARS-CoV-2 infection in children are still under investigation. While coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is usually mild in the paediatric population, some children develop severe clinical manifestations or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) after infection. MIS-C, typically emerging 2-6 weeks after SARS-CoV-2 exposure, is characterized by a hyperinflammatory response affecting multiple organs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Intensive Med
January 2025
Medical Intensive Care Unit, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China.
Background: Receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1), a serine/threonine protein kinase, is mainly activated by pro-inflammatory cytokines and pathogens, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and its activation could result in apoptosis, necroptosis, or inflammation. This study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a potent and selective inhibitor of RIPK1, SIR1-365, in hospitalized patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Methods: This multicenter, randomized, double-blind, phase 1b study screened patients from December 18, 2020 until November 27, 2021.
Open Forum Infect Dis
January 2025
Global Tuberculosis Program, William T. Shearer Center for Immunobiology, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Background: The BCG vaccine induces trained immunity, an epigenetic-mediated increase in innate immune responsiveness. Therefore, this clinical trial evaluated if BCG-induced trained immunity could decrease coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related frequency or severity.
Methods: A double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of healthcare workers randomized participants to vaccination with BCG TICE or placebo (saline).
Open Forum Infect Dis
January 2025
Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Analytics G5 Unit, Department of Global Health, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris-Cité, Paris, France.
Background: Establishing correlates of protection often requires large cohorts. A rapid and adaptable case-control study design can be used to identify antibody correlates of protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in serum and saliva.
Methods: We designed a case-control study to compare antibody levels between cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection within 5 days of symptom onset and uninfected controls.
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