Despite being located close to the European epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, Austria has managed to control the first wave. In Austria, the largest health insurance fund covers 7 million people and has 12,000 employees, including 3700 healthcare workers (HCW). For patient and staff safety, transmission control measures were implemented and mass testing of employees for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was conducted. An IgG SARS-CoV-2 rapid test on fingerstick blood was used as a screening test (ST), followed by serologic studies with 3 different immunoassays and confirmatory testing by a neutralization test (NT). Among 7858 employees, 144 had a positive ST and 88 were confirmed by a NT (1.12%, CI: 0.9–1.38%). The positive predictive value (PPV) of the ST was 69.3% (CI: 60.5–77.2). Interestingly, 40% of the NT positive serum samples were tested negative in all 3 immunoassays. Of the total sample, 2242 HCW (28.5%) were identified. Unexpectedly, there was no difference in the prevalence of NT positives in HCW compared to non-HCW (23/2242 vs. 65/5301, p = 0.53). SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence was not increased among HCW. Although HCW are at potentially increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection, transmission control measures in healthcare facilities appear sufficient to limit transmission of infection.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Health personnel, 【초록키워드】 IgG, neutralization, SARS-COV-2 infection, COVID-19 pandemic, Infection, Transmission, Italy, healthcare worker, Prevalence, immunoassays, immunoassay, Health, Positive predictive value, SARS-CoV-2 antibody, Rapid test, fingerstick blood, Patient, First wave, screening test, HCW, increased risk, no difference, measure, positive, serum sample, healthcare facility, European, limit, tested, was used, conducted, PPV, 【제목키워드】 Europe, Screening, organization, Testing, worker,