Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
Biol Res Nurs. 2023 Oct;25(4):505-515. doi: 10.1177/10998004231161632. Epub 2023 Mar 4.
A 6-month longitudinal surveillance study of asymptomatic healthcare providers (HCP) was carried out at a large urban academic medical center in the United States to assess whether their job occupation with higher exposure risks to SARS-CoV-2 would equate with higher risk of contracting COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic before COVID-19 vaccines were available.
A longitudinal cohort study design was used to collect and analyze immunological and virological monitoring data and self-report survey assessments of personal protective equipment (PPE) availability, adherence to infection control guidelines, and time spent on COVID-19 wards.
Among 289 eligible participants, SARS-CoV-2 exposure risk was high with 48-69% participants working in COVID-19 units and more than 30% of them caring for COVID-19 patients. However, the seroconversion rate was low with only 2.1% of participants developing humoral or cellular immunity against SARS-CoV-2.
Our study findings suggest that, for this HCP cohort working at a large urban academic medical center, a low incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection could be maintained under conditions of strict infection prevention protocols and reliable PPE availability.
在美国一家大型城市学术医疗中心进行了一项针对无症状医护人员（HCP）的 6 个月纵向监测研究，以评估在 COVID-19 疫苗可用之前大流行初期，他们从事与 SARS-CoV-2 更高暴露风险相关的职业是否会导致更高的 COVID-19 感染风险。
采用纵向队列研究设计，收集和分析免疫和病毒学监测数据以及个人防护设备（PPE）可用性、感染控制指南遵守情况以及在 COVID-19 病房工作时间的自我报告调查评估。
在 289 名符合条件的参与者中，SARS-CoV-2 暴露风险较高，48-69%的参与者在 COVID-19 病房工作，超过 30%的参与者照顾 COVID-19 患者。然而，血清转化率较低，只有 2.1%的参与者对 SARS-CoV-2 产生体液或细胞免疫。
我们的研究结果表明，对于在大型城市学术医疗中心工作的这一 HCP 队列，在严格的感染预防方案和可靠的 PPE 可用性条件下，可以维持 SARS-CoV-2 感染的低发病率。
