Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 infection among frontline health care workers in Wuhan during COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract

Introduction: As an emerging infectious disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread throughout worldwide. Health care workers (HCWs) on frontline directly participated in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of COVID-19 patients are at high risk of getting infected with the highly infectious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. In Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, a total of 222 medical staff went to Wuhan city for support. In this study, we aimed to determine any nosocomial infection among our cohort of HCWs who worked in Wuhan.

Methods: Throat swab samples were obtained for RNA testing on day 1 and 14 of their quarantine upon their return to Nanjing. Radiological assessments were performed by chest computed tomography (CT) on day 14 of their quarantine. The blood was collected from 191 HCWs between May 12 and May 15. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG antibody responses were determined by a chemiluminescence immunoassay.

Results: All the throat swab specimens were found negative for SARS-CoV-2. The radiological analysis revealed that there was no typical chest CT scan of COVID-19 among 222 HCWs. Consistently, anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM or IgG was also found to be negative among 191 HCWs.

Conclusions: There was no nosocomial infection of SARS-CoV-2 among our cohort of the frontline HCWs, suggesting that zero occupational infection is an achievable goal with appropriate training, strict compliance, and psychological support for the frontline HCWs.

Figure 1

Serological response to SARS‐CoV‐2. The level of SARS‐CoV‐2 specific IgM and IgG antibodies in serum samples of the frontline HCWs in Wuhan were quantified by chemiluminescence immunoassay (n = 191). Serum samples from control HCWs without COVID‐19 exposure were served as a negative control (n = 112). Serum samples from COVID‐19 patients were used as positive controls (n = 21). Reference specified by the manufacturer (<10 AU/mL). COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019; HCW, health care worker; IgM, immunoglobulin M; SARS‐CoV‐2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2