Pilot study of an occupational healthcare program to assess the SARS-CoV-2 infection and immune status of employees in a large pharmaceutical company
| Autor: | Bertram Boos, Michael Schneider, Patrick Baum, Petra Moroni-Zentgraf, Ralf Sigmund, Hanns Walter Müller, Egbert Mundt, Kimberley Kallsen, Christoph Keller, Mazyar Mahmoudi, Christoph C. Eschenfelder |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak
medicine.medical_specialty Drug Industry Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Health Personnel Health Status Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Pilot Projects 030204 cardiovascular system & hematology Antibodies Viral Occupational safety and health COVID-19 Serological Testing 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Business continuity Health care Humans Medicine 030212 general & internal medicine Occupational Health health care economics and organizations Key workers Immune status ComputingMilieux_THECOMPUTINGPROFESSION SARS-CoV-2 business.industry COVID-19 General Medicine Family medicine ComputerApplications_GENERAL business |
| DOI: | 10.6084/m9.figshare.14396457 |
| Popis: | To safeguard key workers involved in development and production of medicines and ensure business continuity, we developed an occupational healthcare program, performed by our company’s occupational healthcare services, to assess the infection and immune status for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This pilot program, conducted at our company facilities, evaluated the suitability of diagnostic tools in our setting for program upscaling. We used different marketed in vitro diagnostics (including tests for antibodies against spike protein subunits S1 and S2 and nucleocapsid [N] protein) combined with medical history, symptoms and likelihood of infection. We evaluated the testing strategy over four visits in 141 employees (known positive COVID-19 history, n = 20; unknown status, n = 121) between April and June 2020 at four company locations in Germany. Digital self-monitoring over the pilot program duration was also included. No incident infections were detected. Based on immune status, medical history and likelihood of infection, 10 participants (8.3%) with previously unknown history of COVID-19 were identified to have been infected before entering the program. These participants, who recalled no or mild symptoms in the preceding months, were primarily identified using an assay that detected both S1 and S2 immunoglobulin (Ig) G. The frequency of positive lateral flow assay (LFA) results (IgM or IgG directed against the N-protein) in this cohort was lower compared with participants with a known history of COVID-19 (0‒10.8% vs. 33.8‒75.7%, respectively). Data from this pilot program suggest that LFA for antibodies may not always reliably detect current, recent or past infections; consequently, these have not been included in our upscaled occupational healthcare program. Regular testing strategies for viral RNA and antibodies directed against different SARS-CoV-2 proteins, combined with hygiene rules and a comprehensive baseline assessment, are recommended to ensure avoidance of infections at workplace as reliably as possible. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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