Pandemic peak SARS-CoV-2 infection and seroconversion rates in London frontline health-care workers

• Published in: The Lancet 2020-07, Vol.396 (10246), p.e6-e7
• Main Authors: Houlihan, Catherine F, Kelly, Gavin, Spyer, Moira J, Nastouli, Eleni, Allen, Zoe, Ambrose, Karen, Barns-Jenkins, Caitlin, Basu, Souradeep, Buck, Michael D, Cardoso, Ana, Carter, Nick, Carvalho, Luiz, Chen, Qu, Churchward, Laura, Cottrell, Sally, Davison, Dara, Debaisieux, Solene, Diaz-Romero, Monica, Diring, Jessica, Driscoll, Paul C, Edwards, Amelia, Evangelopoulos, Dimitrios, Ferron, Aaron, Fitz, Dan, Fleming, James, Gaiba, Alessandra, Goldstone, Robert, Halldorsson, Steinar, Hoskins, Beth, Hoyle, Jacqueline, Htun, Mint R, Hubank, Michael, Hughes, Deborah, Instrell, Rachael, Jamal-Hanjani, Mariam, Johnson, Mark, Kotzampaltiris, Paul, Kousis, Konstantinos, Kucharska, Ania, Lee, Stacey-Ann, Lu, Wei-Ting, MacRae, James I, McCoy, Laura E, Minutti, Carlos M, Molina-Arcas, Miriam, Moore, David, Moraiti, Anastasia, Nutan, Savita, Oedekoven, Caroline, O'Neill, Olga, Osborne, Neil, Papayannopoulos, Venizelos, Patel, Yogen, Paun, Oana, Perez Caballero, Ana, Perez-Lloret, Jimena, Pollitt, Marc, Shah Punatar, Rajvee, Ramaprasad, Abhinay, Richardson, Kayleigh, Ridewood, Sophie, Rossi, Alice, Rowan, Andrew, Sahai, Erik, Sawyer, Chelsea, Steel, Louisa, Strange, Amy, Swanton, Charles, Tautz-Davis, Zoe H, Taylor, Gunes, Toolan-Kerr, Patrick, Torelli, Francesca, Toteva, Tea, Ule, Jernej, Wenman, Catharina, Williams, Matthew J, Wright, Joshua, Xiang, Zheng, Matthews, Rebecca, Severn, Abigail, Michie, Susan, Shahmanesh, Maryam, Lukha, Hinal, Davies, Claudia, Williams, Bethany, Riddell, Andrew, Bartolovic, Kerol, Russell, Emma, Carr, Lotte, Crayton, Elise, Meyer, Carly, Vora, Nina, Stoltenberg, Andrea, Byrne, Tom, Gilson, Richard, Roberts, Fiona, Hatipoglu, Emine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Asymptomatic; Betacoronavirus - immunology; Biomedical research; Biotechnology; Breast cancer; Coronavirus Infections - blood; Coronavirus Infections - transmission; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Cross Infection - blood; Cross Infection - transmission; Cross Infection - virology; Disease transmission; Health care; Health Personnel; Health services; Hospitals; Humans; Infections; Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional; London; Medical personnel; Medical research; Occupational Exposure; Pandemics; Personal protective equipment; Pneumonia, Viral - blood; Pneumonia, Viral - transmission; Prospective Studies; Public health; Risk Assessment; SARS-CoV-2; Seroconversion; Serology; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Viral diseases; Workers
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31484-7

Health-care workers (HCWs) are at high risk of developing COVID-19, and may themselves contribute to transmission.1 To evaluate these risks, we enrolled 200 patient-facing HCWs between March 26 and April 8, 2020, in SARS-CoV-2 Acquisition in Frontline Healthcare Workers—Evaluation to inform Response (SAFER), a prospective cohort study in high-risk frontline HCWs in an acute National Health Service hospital trust in London. Of the 42 HCWs that ever tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR, 20 (48%) reported symptoms within 7 days of the positive test that were consistent with Public Health England's COVID-19 case definition,2 and 16 (38%) did not report any symptoms in the same time frame. CS is funded by a Royal Society Napier Professorship, the Rosetrees Trust, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation; receives grant support from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, BMS, Roche-Ventana, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Ono Pharmaceutical; has consulted for Pfizer, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, MSD, BMS, Celgene, AstraZeneca, Illumina, Genentech, Roche-Ventana, GRAIL, Medicxi, and the Sarah Cannon Research Institute; is a shareholder of Apogen Biotechnologies, Epic Bioscience, and GRAIL; and has stock options in and is co-founder of Achilles Therapeutics.