Abstract
Background: Whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positivity among asymptomatic subjects reflects past or future disease may be difficult to ascertain.
Methods: We tested 9449 employees at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden for SARS-CoV-2 RNA and antibodies, linked the results to sick leave records, and determined associations with past or future sick leave using multinomial logistic regression.
Results: Subjects with high amounts of SARS-CoV-2 virus, indicated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cycle threshold (Ct) value, had the highest risk for sick leave in the 2 weeks after testing (odds ratio [OR], 11.97; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6.29-22.80) whereas subjects with low amounts of virus had the highest risk for sick leave in the 3 weeks before testing (OR, 6.31; 95% CI, 4.38-9.08). Only 2.5% of employees were SARS-CoV-2 positive while 10.5% were positive by serology and 1.2% were positive in both tests. Serology-positive subjects were not at excess risk for future sick leave (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, .71-1.57).
Conclusions: High amounts of SARS-CoV-2 virus, as determined using PCR Ct values, was associated with development of sickness in the next few weeks. Results support the concept that PCR Ct may be informative when testing for SARS-CoV-2. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT04411576 .
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; antibodies; coronavirus; health care workers; sick leave.
【저자키워드】 antibodies, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, health care workers, sick leave., 【초록키워드】 serology, risk, SARS-CoV-2 virus, virus, Registration, Health, PCR, cycle threshold, clinical, SARS-CoV-2 RNA, disease, Care, association, Odds ratio, Support, acute respiratory syndrome, Sickness, 95% CI, 95% confidence interval, subject, multinomial logistic regression, positive, Karolinska University Hospital, polymerase chain, Result, highest, tested, indicated, sick, reflect, asymptomatic subject, 【제목키워드】 worker, Amount,