DETECTION OF SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONAVIRUS 2 SPECIFIC IgG ANTIBODY IN STAFF OF KING EDWARD MEDICAL UNIVERSITY LAHORE
Year: 2021
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background: A new pandemic by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 is severely affecting daily life. It has caused more than million deaths and billionsofdollars of economic loss. Cases are still on the rise and fear of uncertainty is still prevailing among the massesand especially among healthcare workers(HCW). Healthcare workers are at greater risk of contracting the disease as they are continually being exposed to patients. This study was designed toknow the seroprevalence of SARS CoV-2 IgG antibody in the healthcare staff of King Edward Medical University,Lahore.Material andMethods: This prospective cross-sectional study was carried out fromAugust2020to September 2020 at the Department of Pathology, King Edward Medical University Lahore. A total of 86 staff members were enrolled. Indirect ELISA was carried out to detect the SARS CoV-2 IgG antibody in serum samples of study participants. An interpretation was made according to manufacturer instruction as positive if the binding index was >1.1 and negative if it hada value of <0.9.Result: Mean age of study participants was 41.1 ± 12.5 years. Doctors constituted 52 (61%) of total participants,34 (39%) were non-doctors. A total of 28 (33%) participants were from clinical departments while 58 (67%) were from basic medical sciences departments. SRAS CoV-2 IgG antibodies were detected in 39(45%) of total study participants. Only a small number ofseropositive participants 12 (31%) developed symptoms related to COVID-19and 7 (58%) symptomatic individuals were above 40 years of age.Conclusion: The present study concludesthat a higher number of healthcare staff was exposed to SARS CoV-2 but luckily the majority of them remain asymptomatic.KeyWords:Seroprevalence, Coronavirus, Healthcare workers
Authors: Muhammad Asif, Rahat Sarfraz, Saeed Ahmed
Institution: King Edward Medical University
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4407384592