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?:abstract
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The safety of healthcare workers (HCWs) against severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission is an important aspect of managing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic In the South Korea, highly stringent infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines are implemented, and reports of healthcare-associated SARS-CoV-2 transmission among HCWs are limited However, subclinical infections may have been missed by the current symptom-based screening strategy To evaluate the risk of undetected SARS-CoV-2 transmissions from COVID-19 patients to HCWs, we conducted a multicenter seroprevalence study after the first surge of the COVID-19 outbreak A total of 432 HCWs were evaluated, comprising 309 HCWs designated to laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patient care and 123 non-designated HCWs Designated HCWs wore personal protective equipment including an N95 respirator, eye protection, hooded overalls, shoe covers, and inner and outer gloves Use of a powered air-purifying respirator was recommended for aerosol-generating procedures or long-duration care activities A high-sensitivity (99 1%) fluorescence immunoassay immunoglobulin G (IgG) kit was used as the initial screening test, and two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits for total and IgG antibodies were used to confirm the test results A microneutralization test was additionally performed to evaluate the neutralizing activity of positive specimens Among the evaluated HCWs, none of the non-designated HCWs had a positive result, while one of the HCWs designated for COVID-19 patient care (1/309, 0 3%) was seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 with confirmed neutralizing activity (1:40) This finding suggests that subclinical seroconversion may occur among HCWs caring for COVID-19 patients, although the risk is low under strict IPC guidance © Copyright © 2020 Ko, Lee, Kim, Kang, Baek, Park, Hyun, Jo, Chung, Kim, Kang, Choi, Chang, Jung and Peck
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