• Abeer M Albaadani, Eid A Alsufyani, Mohamed I Mursi, Mohamed H Haris, Kiran K Kalam, Nisreen M Alsherbeeni, Ahmed M Al-Rumaihi, Souad M Alateah, Medina A Ahmed, and Moayad M Alqurashi.
• From the Division of Adult Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine (Albaadani, Alsufyani, Mursi, Haris, Kalam, Alsherbeeni, Alqurashi) and from the Division of Microbiology, Central Military Laboratory and Blood Bank (Al-Rumaihi, Alateah, Ahmed), Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Saudi Med J. 2021 Nov 1; 42 (11): 1243-1246.

ObjectivesTo calculate the seroprevalence of asymptomatic healthcare workers (HCWs) in our institution.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study among asymptomatic HCWs in a large hospital during the peak of the pandemic (from July to August 2020 and followed them up until February 2021) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We collected the data in a Microsoft Word document after collecting a single serum sample for detection of antibodies from each participant then we compared the results statically in Microsoft Excel tables.ResultsWe enrolled 188 participants and measured their IgG antibodies from venous blood samples using CLIA. Six (3.2%) had positive antibodies despite being asymptomatic. Most of these were from non-COVID-19 working areas (4 out of 6), but all had an exposure with a positive COVID-19 patient at some point in the preceding 2 months.ConclusionsOur results are consistent with similar local studies showing low seroprevalence among HCWs while most positive cases are from non-COVID-19 areas. Despite this low seroprevalence, HCWs are still considered a high-risk group; hence, there is a need to encourage strict implementation and adherence to infection control measures and vaccination among HCWs, especially when these measures are relaxed on the national level.Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal.

15 keywords...

hide…