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Abstract

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has put healthcare workers (HCW) at significant risk. Presence of antibodies can confirm prior severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

Aim

This study investigates the prevalence of IgA and IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in HCW.

Methods

Performance of IgA and IgG antibody ELISA assays were initially evaluated in positive and negative SARS-CoV-2 serum samples. IgA and IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were measured in 428 asymptomatic HCW. We assessed the risk of two groups: HCW with high exposure risk outside work (HROW) residing in areas where COVID-19 was endemic (n = 162) and HCW with high exposure risk at work (HRAW) in a COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) (n = 97).

Results

Sensitivities of 80% and 81.2% and specificities of 97.2% and 98% were observed for IgA and IgG antibodies, respectively. Of the 428 HCW, three were positive for IgG and 27 for IgA. Only 3/27 (11%) IgA-positive HCW had IgG antibodies compared with 50/62 (81%) in a group of previous SARS-CoV-2-PCR-positive individuals. Consecutive samples from IgA-positive HCW demonstrated IgA persistence 18–83 days in 12/20 samples and IgG seroconversion in 1/20 samples. IgA antibodies were present in 8.6% of HROW and 2% of HRAW.

Conclusions

SARS-CoV-2 exposure may lead to asymptomatic transient IgA response without IgG seroconversion. The significance of these findings needs further study. Out of work exposure is a possible risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCW and infection in HCW can be controlled if adequate protective equipment is implemented.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.48.2001690
2021-12-02
2024-12-26
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.48.2001690
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Immunoglobulin (Ig)A seropositivity against SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare workers in Israel, 4 April to 13 July 2020: an observational study
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Yaniv+Lustig&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Lustig Yaniv</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Carmit+Cohen&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Cohen Carmit</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Asaf+Biber&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Biber Asaf</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Hanaa+Jaber&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Jaber Hanaa</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Yael+Becker+Ilany&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Becker Ilany Yael</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Victoria+Indenbaum&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Indenbaum Victoria</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Sharon+Amit&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Amit Sharon</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Michal+Mandelboim&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Mandelboim Michal</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Ella+Mendelson&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Mendelson Ella</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Gili+Regev-Yochay&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Regev-Yochay Gili</a></span>. Immunoglobulin (Ig)A seropositivity against SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare workers in Israel, 4 April to 13 July 2020: an observational study. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2021;26(48):pii=2001690. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.48.2001690" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.48.2001690</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 16 Sept 2020;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 07 Jun 2021 </span> </p>
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