IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i8p5599-d1128606.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Longitudinal SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence among Employees in Outpatient Care Services in Hamburg

Author

Listed:
  • Anja Schablon

    (Competence Centre for Epidemiology and Health Services Research for Healthcare Professionals (CVcare), University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Volker Harth

    (Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine (ZfAM), University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Claudia Terschüren

    (Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine (ZfAM), University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Olaf Kleinmüller

    (Competence Centre for Epidemiology and Health Services Research for Healthcare Professionals (CVcare), University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Claudia Wohlert

    (Competence Centre for Epidemiology and Health Services Research for Healthcare Professionals (CVcare), University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Claudia Schnabel

    (Laboratory of Fenner and Colleagues, Bergstrasse 14, 20095 Hamburg, Germany
    Asklepios Campus Hamburg, Semmelweis University, Lohmühlenstrasse 5, 20099 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Thomas Theo Brehm

    (Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
    German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, 20246 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Julian Schulze zur Wiesch

    (Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
    German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, 20246 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Jan Felix Kersten

    (Competence Centre for Epidemiology and Health Services Research for Healthcare Professionals (CVcare), University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Albert Nienhaus

    (Competence Centre for Epidemiology and Health Services Research for Healthcare Professionals (CVcare), University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany
    Department of Occupational Medicine, Hazardous Substances and Public Health (AGG), Institution for Statutory Accident Insurance and Prevention in the Health and Welfare Services (BGW), 22089 Hamburg, Germany)

Abstract

The risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection is particularly high for healthcare workers during the pandemic. Home care workers visit many different households per shift. Encounters with mostly elderly patients and their relatives increase the potential for the undetected spread of SARS-CoV-2. In order to gain insight into the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and possible transmission risks in outpatient care, this follow-up study was conducted with nursing services in Hamburg. The aim was to estimate the dynamics of seroprevalence in this occupational group over a 12-month period, to identify occupation-specific risk factors, and to collect information on the vaccination status of the surveyed nursing staff. Antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 IgG against the S1 domain (EUROIMUN Analyser I ® Lübeck, Germany) was performed on participating healthcare workers with patient contact at a total of four time points within one year from July 2020 to October 2021 (baseline, follow-up after three, six and twelve months). The data were mostly analysed descriptively. Differences in IgG titres were analysed using variance analysis methods, particularly Tukey’s range test. The seroprevalence was 1.2% (8/678) at baseline and 1.5% (9/581) at the three-month follow-up (T1). At the second follow-up (T2) after six months, vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 was available from January 2021 onwards. The prevalence rate of positive IgG antibodies relative to the S1 domain of the spike protein test among unvaccinated individuals was 6.5%. At (T3) after twelve months (July to October 2021), 482 participants were enrolled, and 85.7% of the workers were considered fully vaccinated at this time point, while 51 individuals were unvaccinated. The prevalence was 13.7% (7/51). In our study, a low seroprevalence was found among home care workers, which was lower than in our studies conducted in the clinical setting. Therefore, it can be assumed that the occupational risk of infection is rather low for both the nursing staff and the patients/clients cared for in the outpatient setting. The good provision of protective equipment and the high vaccination rate of the staff probably had a positive influence.

Suggested Citation

  • Anja Schablon & Volker Harth & Claudia Terschüren & Olaf Kleinmüller & Claudia Wohlert & Claudia Schnabel & Thomas Theo Brehm & Julian Schulze zur Wiesch & Jan Felix Kersten & Albert Nienhaus, 2023. "Longitudinal SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence among Employees in Outpatient Care Services in Hamburg," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-12, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:8:p:5599-:d:1128606
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/8/5599/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/8/5599/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Claudia Peters & Madeleine Dulon & Claudia Westermann & Agnessa Kozak & Albert Nienhaus, 2022. "Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 on Workers in Health and Social Services in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-12, June.
    2. Chiara Airoldi & Filippo Patrucco & Fulvia Milano & Daniela Alessi & Andrea Sarro & Maicol Andrea Rossi & Tiziana Cena & Silvio Borrè & Fabrizio Faggiano, 2021. "High Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among Healthcare Workers in a North Italy Hospital," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-11, March.
    3. Martin Platten & Albert Nienhaus & Claudia Peters & Rita Cranen & Hilmar Wisplinghoff & Jan Felix Kersten & Alexander Daniel Bach & Guido Michels, 2022. "Cumulative Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in Healthcare Workers at a General Hospital in Germany during the Pandemic—A Longitudinal Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-14, February.
    4. Albert Nienhaus, 2021. "COVID-19 among Health Workers in Germany—An Update," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-10, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Albert Nienhaus & Johanna Stranzinger & Agnessa Kozak, 2023. "COVID-19 as an Occupational Disease—Temporal Trends in the Number and Severity of Claims in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-9, January.
    2. Claudia Peters & Madeleine Dulon & Claudia Westermann & Agnessa Kozak & Albert Nienhaus, 2022. "Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 on Workers in Health and Social Services in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-12, June.
    3. Tomoko Kobayashi & Chikara Miyaji & Hiroshi Habu & Yoshiharu Horie & Soshi Takao, 2024. "Impact of COVID-19 Infection on Health-Related Quality of Life in the Japanese Population: A Large Health-Insurance-Based Database Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(2), pages 1-10, February.
    4. Luca Coppeta & Cristiana Ferrari & Andrea Mazza & Marco Trabucco Aurilio & Stefano Rizza, 2021. "Factors Associated with Pre-Vaccination SARS-CoV-2 Infection Risk among Hospital Nurses Facing COVID-19 Outbreak," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-7, December.
    5. Stefania Paduano & Pasquale Galante & Nausicaa Berselli & Luca Ugolotti & Alberto Modenese & Alessandro Poggi & Marcella Malavolti & Sara Turchi & Isabella Marchesi & Roberto Vivoli & Paola Perlini & , 2022. "Seroprevalence Survey of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in a Population of Emilia-Romagna Region, Northern Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-11, June.
    6. Moussa Antar & Hansjoerg Ullerich & Andreas Zaruchas & Torsten Meier & Ricarda Diller & Ulrich Pannewick & Sameer A. Dhayat, 2024. "Long-Term Quality of Life after COVID-19 Infection: Cross-Sectional Study of Health Care Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(2), pages 1-17, February.
    7. Katrin Müller & Iris Poppele & Marcel Ottiger & Katharina Zwingmann & Ivo Berger & Andreas Thomas & Alois Wastlhuber & Franziska Ortwein & Anna-Lena Schultz & Anna Weghofer & Eva Wilhelm & Rainer-Chri, 2023. "Impact of Rehabilitation on Physical and Neuropsychological Health of Patients Who Acquired COVID-19 in the Workplace," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Danilo Buonsenso & Maria Rosaria Gualano & Maria Francesca Rossi & Angelica Valz Gris & Leuconoe Grazia Sisti & Ivan Borrelli & Paolo Emilio Santoro & Antonio Tumminello & Carolina Gentili & Walter Ma, 2022. "Post-Acute COVID-19 Sequelae in a Working Population at One Year Follow-Up: A Wide Range of Impacts from an Italian Sample," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-12, September.
    9. Cristina Delgado-Alonso & Constanza Cuevas & Silvia Oliver-Mas & María Díez-Cirarda & Alfonso Delgado-Álvarez & María José Gil-Moreno & Jorge Matías-Guiu & Jordi A. Matias-Guiu, 2022. "Fatigue and Cognitive Dysfunction Are Associated with Occupational Status in Post-COVID Syndrome," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-9, October.
    10. Martin Platten & Albert Nienhaus & Claudia Peters & Rita Cranen & Hilmar Wisplinghoff & Jan Felix Kersten & Alexander Daniel Bach & Guido Michels, 2022. "Cumulative Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in Healthcare Workers at a General Hospital in Germany during the Pandemic—A Longitudinal Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-14, February.
    11. Albert Nienhaus, 2021. "COVID-19 among Health Workers in Germany—An Update," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-10, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:8:p:5599-:d:1128606. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.