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Abstract

We investigated a COVID-19 outbreak at a fire station in Marseille, France. Confirmed cases were defined as individuals with positive SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and/or neutralising antibodies. All 85 firefighters at work during the outbreak period were included after questioning and sampled for RT-PCR and viral neutralisation assay. Twenty-three firefighters were confirmed positive, 19 of them were symptomatic, and four asymptomatic cases were confirmed by virus neutralisation. A total of 22 firefighters had specific neutralising antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Neutralising antibodies were found in four asymptomatic and 18 symptomatic cases. Eleven symptomatic cases had high titres (≥ 1:80). The earliest detection of neutralising antibodies was 7 days after symptom onset, and 80% had neutralising antibodies 15 days after onset. One viral culture was positive 13 days after onset. The attack rate was 27%. We identified two introductions of the virus in this outbreak, through a presymptomatic and a paucisymptomatic case. Asymptomatic cases were not the source of a third generation of cases, although they worked without wearing a mask, indicating that asymptomatic cases did not play a significant role in this outbreak. Management and strategy based on early research of clinical signs associated with self-quarantine was effective.

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/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.41.2001676
2021-10-14
2024-11-21
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.41.2001676
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COVID-19 outbreak among French firefighters, Marseille, France, 2020
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Guillaume+Andr%C3%A9+Durand&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Durand Guillaume André</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Franck+de+Laval&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">de Laval Franck</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Albane+de+Bonet+d%E2%80%99Ol%C3%A9on&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">de Bonet d’Oléon Albane</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Fran%C3%A7ois+Xavier+Le+Flem&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Le Flem François Xavier</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Yann+Morin&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Morin Yann</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Cyril+Badaut&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Badaut Cyril</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Gilda+Grard&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Grard Gilda</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Constance+Brossier&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Brossier Constance</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Marion+Fossier&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Fossier Marion</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Aissata+Dia&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Dia Aissata</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Flavie+Letois&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Letois Flavie</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Manon+Geulen&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Geulen Manon</a>, <a href="/search?value1=G%C3%A9raldine+Piorkowski&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Piorkowski Géraldine</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jean-Baptiste+Meynard&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Meynard Jean-Baptiste</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Frank+Peduzzi&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Peduzzi Frank</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Isabelle+Leparc-Goffart&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Leparc-Goffart Isabelle</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Vincent+Pommier+de+Santi&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Pommier de Santi Vincent</a></span>. COVID-19 outbreak among French firefighters, Marseille, France, 2020. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2021;26(41):pii=2001676. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.41.2001676" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.41.2001676</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 12 Sept 2020;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 08 Feb 2021 </span> </p>
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.41.2001676
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.41.2001676
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