Large variation in anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence among essential workers in Geneva, Switzerland

Stringhini, Silvia; Zaballa, María-Eugenia; Pullen, Nick; Perez-Saez, Javier; Dumont, Roxane; Picazio, A.; Pennacchio, Francesco; Dibner, Yaron; Yerly, Sabine; Vuilleumier, Nicolas; Balavoine, Jean-François; Trono, Didier; Pittet, Didier; Chappuis, François; Kherad, Omar; Azman, Andrew S.; Alber, Victoria; Arm-Vernez, Isabelle; Bachmann, Delphine; Bachmann, Donatien; Baggio, Stéphanie; Monteiro, Gil Barbosa; Baysson, Hélène; Bleich, Patrick; Boissel, Isabelle; Collombet, Prune; Courvoisier, Delphine S.; Couson, Philippine; Davidovic, Alioucha; Deiri, Clement; Rio, Divina Del; Mestral, Carlos de; Ridder, David De; D’Ippolito, Paola; Duc, Joséphine; Eckerle, Isabella; Merjani, Nacira El; Ferniot, Gwennaelle; Flahault, A; Francioli, Natalie; Frangville, Marion; Garande, Carine; Gétaz, Laurent; Giraldo, Patricia; Golaz, Fanny; Guérin, Julie; Haboury, Ludivine; Harnal, Séverine; Javet, Victoria; Kaiser, Laurent; Laboulais, Amélie; Lamour, Gaëlle; Lefebvre, Xavier; Lescuyer, Pierre; Loizeau, Andrea; Lombard, Fanny-Blanche; Lorthe, Elsa; Martinez, Chantal; Massiha, Kourosh; Metral-Boffod, Ludovic; Meyer, Benjamin; Mostaguir, Khaled; Nehme, Mayssam; Noël, Natacha; Oederlin, Nicolas; Petrović, Dušan; Piumatti, Gîovanni; Portier, Jane; Poulain, Géraldine; Pugin, Caroline; Rakotomiaramanana, B.; Randrianandrasana, Zo Francia; Richard, Aude; Richard, Viviane; Rodriguez-Velazquez, Sabina; Salzmann-Bellard, Lilas; Thorens, Leonard; Torroni, Simon; Vidonne, David; Violot, Guillemette; Waldmann, Zoé; Will, Manon; Wisniak, Ania; Guessous, Idris

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23796-4

Cited by 38 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…In addition, very few, if any, longitudinal cohort studies on the SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity have been performed after well-documented outbreaks in private factories or companies where the risk of virus spread is lower and the possibilities for periodic monitoring of the humoral immune response are more challenging as compared to hospitals. A serosurvey of workers recruited after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic from 16 sectors and 32 occupations showed that seropositivity rates varied widely across sectors and occupations, reflecting a higher exposure in nursing home and healthcare sectors [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2-Specific Antibodies for 13 Months after Infection

Kučinskaitė-Kodzė

Simanavičius

Šimaitis³

et al. 2021

Viruses

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Background: Dynamics of antibody responses were investigated after a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in a private company during the first wave of the pandemic. Methods: Workers of a sewing company (Lithuania) with known SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR result during the outbreak (April 2020) were invited to participate in the study. Virus-specific IgG and IgM were monitored 2, 6 and 13 months after the outbreak via rapid IgG/IgM serological test and SARS-CoV-2 S protein-specific IgG ELISA. Results: Six months after the outbreak, 95% (CI 86–99%) of 59 previously infected individuals had virus-specific antibodies irrespective of the severity of infection. One-third of seropositive individuals had virus-specific IgM along with IgG indicating that IgM may persist for 6 months. Serological testing 13 months after the outbreak included 47 recovered individuals that remained non-vaccinated despite a wide accessibility of COVID-19 vaccines. The seropositivity rate was 83% (CI 69–91%) excluding one case of confirmed asymptomatic reinfection in this group. Between months 6 and 13, IgG levels either declined or remained stable in 31 individual and increased in 7 individuals possibly indicating an exposure to SARS-CoV-2 during the second wave of the pandemic. Conclusions: Detectable levels of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies persist up to 13 months after infection for the majority of the cases.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2-Specific Antibodies for 13 Months after Infection

Kučinskaitė-Kodzė

Simanavičius

Šimaitis³

et al. 2021

Viruses

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Essential workers were unequally affected in the early phases of the pandemic, with healthcare workers (HCW) being at higher risk of contracting infections, 4 5 and a wide variability in seropositivity across occupations. 6 Close contact and inadequate personal protective equipment have been identified as risk factors, 7 generating a large deployment of social distancing and barrier measures. Despite this, a second pandemic surge affected most countries worldwide, taking place at the end of 2020 in Switzerland.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupational risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and reinfection during the second pandemic surge: a cohort study

Leidi

Berner

Dumont

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Objectives: This cohort study including essential workers, assessed the risk and incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection during the second surge of COVID-19 according to baseline serostatus and occupational sector. Methods: Essential workers were selected from a seroprevalence survey cohort in Geneva, Switzerland and were linked to a state centralized registry compiling SARS-CoV-2 infections. Primary outcome was the number of virologically-confirmed infections from serological assessment (between May and September 2020) to January 25, 2021, according to baseline antibody status and stratified by three pre-defined occupational groups (occupations requiring sustained physical proximity, involving brief regular contact or others). Secondary outcomes included the incidence of infection. Results: 10457 essential workers were included (occupations requiring sustained physical proximity accounted for 3057 individuals, those involving regular brief contact, 3645, and 3755 workers were classified under ″Other essential occupations″). After a follow-up period of over 27 weeks, 5 (0.6%) seropositive and 830 (8.5%) seronegative individuals had a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, with an incidence rate of 0.2 (95% CI 0.1 to 0.6) and 3.2 (95% CI 2.9 to 3.4) cases per person-week, respectively. Incidences were similar across occupational groups. Seropositive essential workers had a 93% reduction in the hazard (HR of 0.07, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.17) of having a positive test during follow-up with no significant between-occupational group difference. Conclusions: A ten-fold reduction in the hazard of being virologically tested positive was observed among anti-SARS-CoV-2 seropositive essential workers regardless of their sector of occupation, confirming the seroprotective effect of a previous SARS-CoV2 exposure at least six months after infection. Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, Reinfection, Essential workers, Occupation

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“…Participants were selected from a serosurvey cohort recruiting essential workers between May and September 2020 in Geneva, Switzerland. 6 Data of SARS-CoV-2 infections were extracted from a centralised state registry and linked to each participant, as previously described. 2 Workers were categorised into three predefined groups, according to their exposure risk: occupations likely requiring sustained physical proximity to other individuals (eg, HCW, childcare and social workers), occupations involving regular brief contact (eg, pharmacists, taxi drivers, grocery workers) and other essential occupations (eg, farmers, managers and health researchers) (online supplemental table S1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Essential workers were unequally affected in the early phases of the pandemic, with HCWs being at higher risk of contracting infections, 4 5 and a wide variability in seropositivity across occupations. 6 Close contact and inadequate personal protective equipment have been identified as risk factors, 7 generating a large deployment of social distancing and barrier measures. Despite this, a second pandemic surge affected most countries worldwide, taking place at the end of 2020 in Switzerland.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupational risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and reinfection during the second pandemic surge: a cohort study

Leidi¹,

Berner

Dumont

et al. 2021

Occup Environ Med

Self Cite

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ObjectivesThis cohort study including essential workers, assessed the risk and incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection during the second surge of COVID-19 according to baseline serostatus and occupational sector.MethodsEssential workers were selected from a seroprevalence survey cohort in Geneva, Switzerland and were linked to a state centralised registry compiling SARS-CoV-2 infections. Primary outcome was the incidence of virologically confirmed infections from serological assessment (between May and September 2020) to 25 January 2021, according to baseline antibody status and stratified by three predefined occupational groups (occupations requiring sustained physical proximity, involving brief regular contact or others).Results10 457 essential workers were included (occupations requiring sustained physical proximity accounted for 3057 individuals, those involving regular brief contact, 3645 and 3755 workers were classified under ‘Other essential occupations’). After a follow-up period of over 27 weeks, 5 (0.6%) seropositive and 830 (8.5%) seronegative individuals had a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, with an incidence rate of 0.2 (95% CI 0.1 to 0.6) and 3.2 (95% CI 2.9 to 3.4) cases per person-week, respectively. Incidences were similar across occupational groups. Seropositive essential workers had a 93% reduction in the hazard (HR of 0.07, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.17) of having a positive test during the follow-up with no significant between-occupational group difference.ConclusionsA 10-fold reduction in the hazard of being virologically tested positive was observed among anti-SARS-CoV-2 seropositive essential workers regardless of their sector of occupation, confirming the seroprotective effect of a previous SARS-CoV2 exposure at least 6 months after infection.

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Large variation in anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence among essential workers in Geneva, Switzerland

Cited by 38 publications

References 39 publications

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2-Specific Antibodies for 13 Months after Infection

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2-Specific Antibodies for 13 Months after Infection

Occupational risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and reinfection during the second pandemic surge: a cohort study

Occupational risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and reinfection during the second pandemic surge: a cohort study

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