Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jul 29;20(1):203.
doi: 10.1186/s12890-020-01237-0.

SARS-CoV-2 specific serological pattern in healthcare workers of an Italian COVID-19 forefront hospital

Giovanni Sotgiu  1   2 , Alessandra Barassi  3 , Monica Miozzo  4   5 , Laura Saderi  6 , Andrea Piana  6 , Nicola Orfeo  7 , Claudio Colosio  8 , Giovanni Felisati  9 , Matteo Davì  10 , Alberto Giovanni Gerli  11 , Stefano Centanni  10
Affiliations

SARS-CoV-2 specific serological pattern in healthcare workers of an Italian COVID-19 forefront hospital

Giovanni Sotgiu et al. BMC Pulm Med. .

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The immunopathogenesis of the infection is currently unknown. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at highest risk of infection and disease. Aim of the study was to assess the sero-prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in an Italian cohort of HCWs exposed to COVID-19 patients.

Methods: A point-of-care lateral flow immunoassay (BioMedomics IgM-IgG Combined Antibody Rapid Test) was adopted to assess the prevalence of IgG and IgM against SARS-CoV-2. It was ethically approved ("Milano Area 1" Ethical Committee prot. n. 2020/ST/057).

Results: A total of 202 individuals (median age 45 years; 34.7% males) were retrospectively recruited in an Italian hospital (Milan, Italy). The percentage (95% CI) of recruited individuals with IgM and IgG were 14.4% (9.6-19.2%) and 7.4% (3.8-11.0%), respectively. IgM were more frequently found in males (24.3%), and in individuals aged 20-29 (25.9%) and 60-69 (30.4%) years. No relationship was found between exposure to COVID-19 patients and IgM and IgG positivity.

Conclusions: The present study did show a low prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgM in Italian HCWs. New studies are needed to assess the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in HCWs exposed to COVID-19 patients, as well the role of neutralizing antibodies.

Keywords: COVID-19; HCWs; IG; SARS-CoV-2; Seroprevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The Authors stated no commercial conflict of interests related to the present research. Giovanni Sotgiu is a member of the editorial board (Section Editor) of the Journal.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic illustration of rapid SARS-CoV-2 IgM-IgG combined antibody test. a Schematic diagram of the detection device; b an illustration of different testing results; C, control line; G, means IgG line; M, IgM line. IgG, immunoglobulin G; IgM, immunoglobulin M
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. WHO . Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. 2020.
    1. Gerli AG, Centanni S, Miozzo MR, Sotgiu G. Early prediction of COVID-19-related deaths and infections fitting worldwide. Int J Tubercolosis Lung Dis. 10.5588/ijtld.20.0196.
    1. Sotgiu G, Gerli GA, Centanni S, Miozzo M, Canonica GW, Soriano JB, Virchow C. Advanced forecasting of SARS-CoV-2 related deaths in Italy, Germany, Spain, and New York state. Allergy. 2020. 10.1111/all.14327. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhai P, Ding Y, Wu X, Long J, Zhong Y, Li Y. The epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2020:105955. 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105955. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pang J, Wang MX, Ang IYH, Tan SHX, Lewis RF, Chen JI, Gutierrez RA. più altri 11, Potential Rapid Diagnostics, Vaccine and Therapeutics for 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV): A Systematic Review. J Clin Med. 2020;9(3):E23. doi: 10.3390/jcm9030623. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances