{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,12]],"date-time":"2025-11-12T03:30:25Z","timestamp":1762918225913,"version":"3.40.5"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,27]],"date-time":"2021-04-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1619481600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":116,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["cambridge.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Epidemiol. Infect."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n\t  <jats:p>Hospital healthcare workers (HCWs) are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 infection. We aimed to determine the seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies in HCWs in Ireland. Two tertiary referral hospitals in Irish cities with diverging community incidence and seroprevalence were identified; COVID-19 had been diagnosed in 10.2% and 1.8% of staff respectively by the time of the study (October 2020). All staff of both hospitals (<jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic> = 9038) were invited to participate in an online questionnaire and blood sampling for SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing. Frequencies and percentages for positive SARS-CoV-2 antibody were calculated and adjusted relative risks (aRR) for participant characteristics were calculated using multivariable regression analysis. In total, 5788 HCWs participated (64% response rate). Seroprevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 was 15% and 4.1% in hospitals 1 and 2, respectively. Thirty-nine percent of infections were previously undiagnosed. Risk for seropositivity was higher for healthcare assistants (aRR 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4\u20133.0), nurses (aRR: 1.6, 95% CI 1.1\u20132.2), daily exposure to patients with COVID-19 (aRR: 1.6, 95% CI 1.2\u20132.1), age 18\u201329 years (aRR: 1.4, 95% CI 1.1\u20131.9), living with other HCWs (aRR: 1.3, 95% CI 1.1\u20131.5), Asian background (aRR: 1.3, 95% CI 1.0\u20131.6) and male sex (aRR: 1.2, 95% CI 1.0\u20131.4). The HCW seroprevalence was six times higher than community seroprevalence. Risk was higher for those with close patient contact. The proportion of undiagnosed infections call for robust infection control guidance, easy access to testing and consideration of screening in asymptomatic HCWs. With emerging evidence of reduction in transmission from vaccinated individuals, the authors strongly endorse rapid vaccination of all HCWs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1017\/s0950268821000984","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,27]],"date-time":"2021-04-27T03:42:29Z","timestamp":1619494949000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/policypage","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":25,"title":["Prevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in Irish hospital healthcare workers"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"149","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6638-9536","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Niamh","family":"Allen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Una Ni","family":"Riain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Niall","family":"Conlon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Annamaria","family":"Ferenczi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Antonio Isidro","family":"Carrion Martin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lisa","family":"Domegan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cathal","family":"Walsh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lorraine","family":"Doherty","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cliona","family":"O'Farrelly","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eibhlin","family":"Higgins","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Colm","family":"Kerr","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jonathan","family":"McGrath","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"name":"PRECISE Study Steering Group","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Catherine","family":"Fleming","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Colm","family":"Bergin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"S0950268821000984_ref4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"m3325","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.m3325","article-title":"Testing for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies","volume":"370","author":"Watson","year":"2020","journal-title":"British Medical Journal"},{"key":"S0950268821000984_ref16","unstructured":"16. 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Published by Cambridge University Press","name":"copyright","label":"Copyright","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.","name":"license","label":"License","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This content has been made available to all.","name":"free","label":"Free to read"}],"article-number":"e157"}}