Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody among health care workers of anaesthesia departments from various hospital settings in India

Parai, D.; Choudhary, H. R.; Dash, G. C.; Peter, A.; Roy, R.; Aggarwal, G.; Sahoo, S.; Rout, U. K.; Nanda, R. R.; Kshatri, J. S.; Kanungo, S.; Palo, S. K.; Pati, S.; Bhattacharya, D. D.

Abstract: Background: Health care workers (HCWs) are the most susceptible group to get COVID-19 infection and this group always need special attention as they are the key human resource to contain this pandemic. Objective: To track down the seroprevalence among a particular group of HCWs working in the anaesthesia department in hospital settings. Study design: Two rounds of serosurvey were done to track the dynamicity among the 128 and 164 HCWs participants in the first round and second round, respectively. 5 mL of blood was collected and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody was tested in Abbott Architect i1000SR. Results: The seroprevalence found in the first and second round was 12.5% and 38.4%, respectively. A significant number (n=61, 77.21%) of seropositivity came from the asymptomatic HCWs group as found in both the survey. There was no significant association among different age, gender and RT-PCR tested groups. Conclusion: Routine diagnosis of COVID-19 should be referred among HCWs to identify and act upon unrecognized SARS-CoV-2 infection.