Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection among Occupational Groups from the Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area, Colombia

Abstract

The negative effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have impacted the world economy due to the absence from work because of SARS-CoV-2 infection in workers, among other reasons. However, some economic areas are essential to society and people must continue working outside the home to support economic reactivation; their serological profile could be different from that of the global population. Cross-sectional study: Workers from health, construction, public transportation, public force, bike delivery messengers, independent or informal commerce areas, and residents of Bucaramanga or its metropolitan area were invited to participate. All participants self-completed a virtual survey and a blood test was taken to assess IgG and IgM with the ARC COV2 test. Seroprevalence was estimated considering a complex survey design, correcting for a finite population effect and adjusting for test performance. A total of 7045 workers were enrolled; 59.9% were women and most were residents of Bucaramanga and working in health occupations. The global adjusted seroprevalence was 19.5% (CI: 95% 18.6-20.4), being higher for Girón (27.9%; 95% CI: 24.5-31.30). Workers with multiple contact with people during working hours or using public transportation to go to work had a higher frequency of seropositivity for SARS-CoV-2. The seroprevalence among workers living in these four municipalities from the Colombian northeast area is still low.

Keywords: coronavirus infections; occupational exposure; occupational health; prevalence; seroepidemiologic studies.

Figure 1

Reported SARS-CoV-2 daily confirmed cases and deaths for the municipalities of the Bucaramanga metropolitan area. (a) New daily confirmed cases, (b) Daily deaths. Dashed lines delimit the frame time in which recruitment was carried out (28 September and 24 December of 2020). Data source: Colombia National Health Institute; https://www.ins.gov.co/Noticias/Paginas/coronavirus-casos.aspx (accessed on 20 March 2021).

Figure 1

Reported SARS-CoV-2 daily confirmed cases and deaths for the municipalities of the Bucaramanga metropolitan area. (a) New daily confirmed cases, (b) Daily deaths. Dashed lines delimit the frame time in which recruitment was carried out (28 September and 24 December of 2020). Data source: Colombia National Health Institute; https://www.ins.gov.co/Noticias/Paginas/coronavirus-casos.aspx (accessed on 20 March 2021).

Figure 2

Participants’ geolocation in the Bucaramanga metropolitan area. (a) Spatial distribution of participants and density per kilometer squared in urban areas for the municipalities of the Bucaramanga metropolitan area. (b) Participant density per kilometer squared for each municipality.

Figure 3

Seroprevalence by municipalities. Dashed line represents the overall adjusted seroprevalence estimated in our study. This line was added for comparison purposes.

Figure 4

Seroprevalence according to occupational group. Dashed line represents the overall adjusted seroprevalence estimated in our study. This line was added for comparison purposes.

Figure 5

Seroprevalence according to self-reported COVID-19 previous diagnosis. Dashed line represents the overall adjusted seroprevalence estimated in our study. This line was added for comparison purposes.