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
Observational Study
. 2021 Mar 4;18(5):2567.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052567.

Occupational Exposure in the Lombardy Region (Italy) to SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Results from the MUSTANG-OCCUPATION-COVID-19 Study

Paola Della Valle  1   2 , Marco Fabbri  1   2 , Fabiana Madotto  2 , Pietro Ferrara  1   2 , Paolo Cozzolino  2 , Elisabetta Calabretto  2 , Marco Italo D'Orso  3 , Ermanno Longhi  2 , Riccardo Polosa  4   5 , Michele Augusto Riva  1 , Giampiero Mazzaglia  1 , Carmen Sommese  2 , Lorenzo Giovanni Mantovani  1   2 , The Mustang-Occupation-Covid-Study Group
Affiliations
Observational Study

Occupational Exposure in the Lombardy Region (Italy) to SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Results from the MUSTANG-OCCUPATION-COVID-19 Study

Paola Della Valle et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Sero-epidemiological surveys are valuable attempts to estimate the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in general or selected populations. Within this context, a prospective observational study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in different categories of workers and factors associated with positivity, through the detection of virus-specific immunoglobulin G and M (IgG/IgM) in serum samples. Enrollees were divided in low exposure and medium-high groups on the basis of their work activity. Antibody responders were re-contacted after 3 months for the follow-up. Of 2255 sampled workers, 4.8% tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM antibodies, with 81.7% to IgG only. Workers who continued to go to their place of work, were healthcare workers, or experienced at least one COVID-19-related symptom were more likely to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. SARS-CoV-2 antibodies prevalence was significantly higher in the medium-high risk vs. low-risk group (7.2% vs. 3.0%, p < 0.0001). At 3-month follow-up, 81.3% of subjects still had antibody response. This study provided important information of SARS-CoV-2 infection prevalence among workers in northern Italy, where the impact of COVID-19 was particularly intense. The presented surveillance data give a contribution to refine current estimates of the disease burden expected from the SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; antibody persistence; occupational exposure; seroprevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The study flow diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Dipartimento della Protezione Civile COVID-19 Italia—Monitoraggio della situazione. [(accessed on 26 January 2021)]; Available online: www.opendatadpc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/b0c68bce2c....
    1. Ferrara P., Albano L. COVID-19 and healthcare systems: What should we do next? Public Health. 2020;185:1–2. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2020.05.014. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Conti S., Ferrara P., Fornari C., Harari S., Madotto F., Silenzi A., Zucchi A., Manzoli L., Mantovani L.G. Estimates of the initial impact of COVID-19 epidemic on overall mortality: Evidence from Italy. ERJ Open Res. 2020;6:00179–2020. doi: 10.1183/23120541.00179-2020. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Balasco N., d’Alessandro V., Ferrara P., Smaldone G., Vitagliano L. Analysis of the time evolution of COVID-19 lethality during the first epidemic wave in Italy. Acta Biomed. 2021;92 in press. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Conti S., Ferrara P., Mazzaglia G., D’Orso M.I., Ciampichini R., Fornari C., Madotto F., Magoni M., Sampietro G., Silenzi A., et al. Magnitude and time-course of excess mortality during COVID-19 outbreak: Population-based empirical evidence from highly impacted provinces in northern Italy. ERJ Open Res. 2020;6:00458–2020. doi: 10.1183/23120541.00458-2020. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources