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. 2022 Jul 28;14(8):1663.
doi: 10.3390/v14081663.

SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Health Care Workers of Trieste (North-Eastern Italy), 1 October 2020-7 February 2022: Occupational Risk and the Impact of the Omicron Variant

Luca Cegolon  1   2 , Federico Ronchese  3 , Francesca Ricci  3 , Corrado Negro  1   3 , Francesca Larese-Filon  1   3
Affiliations

SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Health Care Workers of Trieste (North-Eastern Italy), 1 October 2020-7 February 2022: Occupational Risk and the Impact of the Omicron Variant

Luca Cegolon et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Vaccination coverage against COVID-19 among health care workers (HCWs) of the University Health Agency Giuliano-Isontina (ASUGI) of Trieste (North-eastern Italy) by 1 January 2022 was 90.4% with at least one vaccine dose, 84.9% with at least 2 doses, and 75.1% with 3 doses, 98.2% with Comirnaty (Pfizer BioNtech, New York, NY, USA) versus 1.8% with Spikevax (Moderna, Cambridge, MA, USA). From 1 October 2020 to 7 February 2022, 1652 SARS-CoV-2 infections were notified in HCWs of ASUGI Trieste. Although the overall risk of SARS-CoV-2 contagion increased over time, the rate of occupational infections progressively declined, from 42.5% during the second COVID-19 wave to 15.6% in the fifth. Between 1 January-7 February 2022 (a period dominated by the Omicron variant), albeit no COVID-19-associated hospitalizations were recorded in HCWs of ASUGI Trieste, 669 SARS-CoV-2 infections were counted against 367 cases observed from 1 October to 31 December 2020, the 3 months preceding the implementation of the vaccination campaign against COVID-19. Job tasks and health care settings turned out to be the most significant risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the effect of workplace prevailed over job task on the biological risk, with greater rates of SARS-CoV-2 infections observed among HCWs operating in areas with higher levels of circulation of the virus, particularly COVID-19 dedicated units.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; biological risk; health care-associated infection; health protection measures; job task; occupational risk; vaccines.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
COVID-19 vaccine uptake (%) over time in health care workers (N = 5019) employed by the University Health Agency Giuliano-Isontina (ASUGI) of Trieste, by number of doses received.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of daily SARS-CoV-2 infections in the general population of Trieste versus health care workers (HCWs) of ASUGI Trieste over time (1 October 2020–7 February 2022).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Daily SARS-CoV-2 incident infections among health care workers of ASUGI Trieste (1 October 2020–7 February 2022).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Monthly number of SARS-CoV-2 re-infections in health care workers of ASUGI Trieste (1 April 2021–7 February 2022.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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