Ralli Massimo, Cedola Chiara, Urbano Suleika, Latini Ottavio, Shkodina Natalia, Morrone Aldo, Arcangeli Andrea, Ercoli Lucia
Department of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Primary Care Services, Eleemosynaria Apostolica, Vatican City State.
J Public Health Res. 2020 Dec 22;9(4):1986. doi: 10.4081/jphr.2020.1986. eCollection 2020 Oct 14.
The development of COVID-19 pandemic has affected all segments of the population; however, it had a significant impact on vulnerable subjects, such as in people experiencing homelessness. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of COVID-19 spread in homeless persons in the city of Rome, Italy. Patients included in the study underwent a clinical evaluation and rapid antibody analysis on capillary blood for the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 virus. Symptomatic patients were not included in the screening and immediately referred to local hospitals for further evaluation. One-hundred seventy-three patients of both sexes were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection through rapid serological test. Age range was 10-80 years; people came from 35 different countries of origin and 4 continents. Test results were negative for most patients (170-98.2%); two patients had positive IgM (1.2%) and one patient had positive IgG (0.6%). Our study is the first to evaluate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in people experiencing homelessness in the city of Rome, Italy. Most patients were negative for COVID- 19, although several factors may have had an impact on this result, such as the exclusion of symptomatic patients, the limited sensitivity of rapid serological tests in the initial stage of infection and the prevention measures adopted in these populations. Larger studies on fragile populations are needed to prevent and intercept new clusters of infection in the upcoming months.
新型冠状病毒肺炎大流行的发展影响了各阶层人群；然而，它对弱势群体产生了重大影响，比如无家可归者。本研究的目的是评估意大利罗马市无家可归者中新型冠状病毒肺炎的传播率。纳入本研究的患者接受了临床评估，并对毛细血管血进行了快速抗体分析，以检测是否存在针对严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）病毒的免疫球蛋白G（IgG）和免疫球蛋白M（IgM）抗体。有症状的患者未纳入筛查，而是立即转诊至当地医院进行进一步评估。通过快速血清学检测对173名男女患者进行了SARS-CoV-感染检测。年龄范围为10至80岁；这些人来自35个不同的原籍国和4个大洲。大多数患者的检测结果为阴性（170例，占98.2%）；2例患者IgM呈阳性（1.2%），1例患者IgG呈阳性（0.6%）。我们的研究是首次评估意大利罗马市无家可归者中SARS-CoV-2感染的患病率。大多数患者新型冠状病毒肺炎检测结果为阴性，尽管有几个因素可能对这一结果产生了影响，比如排除了有症状的患者、感染初期快速血清学检测的敏感性有限以及这些人群采取的预防措施。需要对脆弱人群开展更大规模研究，以在未来几个月预防和拦截新出现的感染聚集。
