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. 2022 Apr 21;79(11):729-735.
doi: 10.1136/oemed-2021-107920. Online ahead of print.

Occupation, work-related contact and SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleocapsid serological status: findings from the Virus Watch prospective cohort study

Sarah Beale  1 , Parth Patel  2 , Alison Rodger  2 , Isobel Braithwaite  3 , Thomas Byrne  2 , Wing Lam Erica Fong  2 , Ellen Fragaszy  2   4 , Cyril Geismar  2 , Jana Kovar  5   2 , Annalan Navaratnam  2 , Vincent Nguyen  2 , Madhumita Shrotri  2 , Anna Aryee  2 , Robert Aldridge  2 , Andrew Hayward  5 ; Virus Watch Collaborative
Collaborators, Affiliations

Occupation, work-related contact and SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleocapsid serological status: findings from the Virus Watch prospective cohort study

Sarah Beale et al. Occup Environ Med. .

Abstract

Objectives: Risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection varies across occupations; however, investigation into factors underlying differential risk is limited. We aimed to estimate the total effect of occupation on SARS-CoV-2 serological status, whether this is mediated by workplace close contact, and how exposure to poorly ventilated workplaces varied across occupations.

Methods: We used data from a subcohort (n=3775) of adults in the UK-based Virus Watch cohort study who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleocapsid antibodies (indicating natural infection). We used logistic decomposition to investigate the relationship between occupation, contact and seropositivity, and logistic regression to investigate exposure to poorly ventilated workplaces.

Results: Seropositivity was 17.1% among workers with daily close contact vs 10.0% for those with no work-related close contact. Compared with other professional occupations, healthcare, indoor trade/process/plant, leisure/personal service, and transport/mobile machine workers had elevated adjusted total odds of seropositivity (1.80 (1.03 to 3.14) - 2.46 (1.82 to 3.33)). Work-related contact accounted for a variable part of increased odds across occupations (1.04 (1.01 to 1.08) - 1.23 (1.09 to 1.40)). Occupations with raised odds of infection after accounting for work-related contact also had greater exposure to poorly ventilated workplaces.

Conclusions: Work-related close contact appears to contribute to occupational variation in seropositivity. Reducing contact in workplaces is an important COVID-19 control measure.

Keywords: COVID-19; Epidemiology; Occupational Health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: AH serves on the UK New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of participant eligibility.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Crude ORs for frequency of exposure to poorly ventilated workplace by occupation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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