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. 2021 Jul 1;18(13):7057.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18137057.

Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 Infection among Healthcare Workers of a German COVID-19 Treatment Center

Lionel Larribère  1 , Jelizaveta Gordejeva  2 , Lisa Kuhnhenn  3 , Maximilian Kurscheidt  2 , Monika Pobiruchin  2 , Dilyana Vladimirova  1 , Maria Martin  4 , Markus Roser  3 , Wendelin Schramm  2 , Uwe M Martens  1 , Tatjana Eigenbrod  3
Affiliations

Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 Infection among Healthcare Workers of a German COVID-19 Treatment Center

Lionel Larribère et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

To date, more than 160 million people have been infected with COVID-19 worldwide. In the present study, we investigated the history of SARS-CoV-2 infection among 3067 healthcare workers (HCW) in a German COVID-19 treatment center during the early phase of the pandemic (July 2020) based on the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and self-reported previous PCR results. The results demonstrate a low prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection (n = 107 [3.5%]) with no increased risk for employees with a high level of patient exposure in general or working in COVID-19-confined areas in particular. This suggests that the local hygiene standards implemented in our hospital during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic were effective in preventing patient-to-HCW transmission. No evidence for highly mobile staff serving as a vector for SARS-CoV-2 transmission could be found. In addition, impairment of smell and/or taste was strongly associated with SARS-CoV-2 history.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; epidemiology; health care workers; infection risk; infectious disease; transmission.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The sponsor had no role in the design, execution, interpretation, or writing of the study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of previous SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests and serostatus. (a) Venn diagram represents 107 cases with SARS-CoV-2 history. (b) Table depicts the distribution of PCR tests in the whole cohort (n = 3067).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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