INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has surpassed 211 million cases and 4.4 million deaths globally. Seroprevalence among Health care workers (HCWs) ranges from 10.6% (Qatar) to 45.1% in Southwest Nigeria. We surveyed Staff of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), Uyo - Nigeria to determine the prevalence of IgM and IgG seropositivity, compliance with safety practices and IgG seropositivity risk factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 180 asymptomatic hospital staff done in July 2020. A 33-item structured questionnaire was completed after informed consent with adequate safety practice defined as ≥75% compliance rate. The COVID-19 IgM/IgG Rapid Test Cassette (Zhejiang Orient-Gene Biotech, China) was used. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20 with p ≤ 0.05 considered significant. Ethical approval was obtained prior to the study. RESULTS: The 166 participants (64.5% female) with valid results had a mean age of 38.8±7.9 years. Twenty five patients were IgM positive (15.1%) while 47 were IgG positive (28.3%). Only hand hygiene was adequate (90.4%) with social distancing and face mask usage inadequate at 55% and 60.2% respectively. Compared to those aged <30years, staff aged 30-39years and 40- 49years had significantly lower odds of IgG positivity (0.01 and 0.02 respectively). Nurses/CHOs and Administrative staff had significantly higher associations with IgG seropositivity compared to Doctors. CONCLUSION: Over a quarter of HCWs in UUTH Nigeria had positive COVD-19 IgG. Safety practices were mostly inadequate with Nurses and Administrative staff having higher risk of IgG seropositivity. Improved compliance with safety practices by hospital staff may reduce prevalence rates. Keywords: Safety practices, COVID-19, antibody positivity, health care worker, Nigeria.
INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has surpassed 211 million cases and 4.4 million deaths globally. Seroprevalence among Health care workers (HCWs) ranges from 10.6% (Qatar) to 45.1% in Southwest Nigeria. We surveyed Staff of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), Uyo - Nigeria to determine the prevalence of IgM and IgG seropositivity, compliance with safety practices and IgG seropositivity risk factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 180 asymptomatic hospital staff done in July 2020. A 33-item structured questionnaire was completed after informed consent with adequate safety practice defined as ≥75% compliance rate. The COVID-19 IgM/IgG Rapid Test Cassette (Zhejiang Orient-Gene Biotech, China) was used. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20 with p ≤ 0.05 considered significant. Ethical approval was obtained prior to the study. RESULTS: The 166 participants (64.5% female) with valid results had a mean age of 38.8±7.9 years. Twenty five patients were IgM positive (15.1%) while 47 were IgG positive (28.3%). Only hand hygiene was adequate (90.4%) with social distancing and face mask usage inadequate at 55% and 60.2% respectively. Compared to those aged <30years, staff aged 30-39years and 40- 49years had significantly lower odds of IgG positivity (0.01 and 0.02 respectively). Nurses/CHOs and Administrative staff had significantly higher associations with IgG seropositivity compared to Doctors. CONCLUSION: Over a quarter of HCWs in UUTH Nigeria had positive COVD-19 IgG. Safety practices were mostly inadequate with Nurses and Administrative staff having higher risk of IgG seropositivity. Improved compliance with safety practices by hospital staff may reduce prevalence rates. Keywords: Safety practices, COVID-19, antibody positivity, health care worker, Nigeria.
Authors: Kora-Mareen Bühler; Victor Echeverry-Alzate; Javier Calleja-Conde; Pedro Durán-González; Lucia Segovia-Rodriguez; Jose A Morales-García; Mateo Pérez-Wiesner; David Cables-Chozas; Fernando Rodríguez de Fonseca; Alberto Delgado-Iribarren; Paloma Merino-Amador; Fernando González-Romo; Elena Giné; Jose Antonio López-Moreno Journal: IJID Reg Date: 2022-05-27