Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among physicians from a children's hospital.

INTRODUCTION

In just a few months, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a pandemic, causing millions of cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths. Due to its high infectiousness, the health care staff is even more exposed. Nevertheless, there is still very limited information about it, especially among pediatricians.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the seroprevalence of SARSCoV- 2 antibodies among physicians from a children's hospital 3 months after the first case in Argentina. To explore if certain demographic, occupational, and epidemiological characteristics are risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study of physicians randomly selected from the list of workers of a children's hospital. All of them were screened for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by chemiluminescence (immunoglobulins G/M [IgG/IgM]) and their epidemiological history was collected (age, place of residence, professional category, contact with infected people) in order to explore the association between predictors and seropositivity.

RESULTS

A total of 116 physicians were included; their average age was 45.6 ± 13.3 years. Of them, 62.9 % were staff physicians, and the rest, residents; 42.2 % worked in areas designated for direct care of COVID-19 patients. Four (3.5 %) referred contact with infected people without the appropriate protection, and 6 (5.2 %), having traveled to risk areas. SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgG) were only detected in one of the professionals. Because of this, it was impossible to assess the association between potential predictors and the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

CONCLUSION

It was observed that only 0.9 % of the physicians from a children's hospital had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.