| Creators: |
Sellmeier, Anna C. and Elsner, Andreas and Niedergassel, Tim and Schmitz, Johannes and Rehberg, Sebastian and Hornberg, Claudia and Vordemvenne, Thomas and Wähnert, Dirk |
| Title: |
COVID-19 after the first wave of the pandemic among employees from a German university hospital: prevalence and questionnaire data |
| Item Type: |
Article or issue of a publication series |
| Journal or Series Title: |
Journal of Medicine and Life |
| Page Range: |
pp. 1119-1128 |
| Additional Information: |
Open Access |
| Date: |
1 September 2022 |
| Divisions: |
Wirtschaftswissenschaften |
| Abstract (ENG): |
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has changed lives around the world. In particular, healthcare workers faced significant challenges as a result of the pandemic. This study investigates the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in March-April 2020 in Germany among healthcare workers and relates it to questionnaire data. In June 2020, all employees of the reporting hospital were offered a free SARS-CoV-2 antibody test. The first 2,550 test results were sent along with study documents. The response rate was 15.1%. The COVID-19 PCR test prevalence amongst health care workers in this study was 1.04% (95% CI 0.41-2.65%), higher by a factor of 5 than in the general population (p=0.01). The ratio of seroprevalence to PCR prevalence was 1.5. COVID-19-associated symptoms were also prevalent in the non-COVID-19-positive population. Only two symptoms showed statistically significant odds ratios, loss of smell and loss of taste. Health care workers largely supported non-pharmaceutical interventions during the initial lockdown (93%). Individual behavior correlated significantly with attitudes toward policy interventions and perceived individual risk factors. Our data suggest that healthcare workers may be at higher risk of infection. Therefore, a discussion about prioritizing vaccination makes sense. They also support offering increased SARS-CoV-2 testing to hospital workers. It is concluded that easier access to SARS-CoV-2 testing reduces the number of unreported cases. Furthermore, individual attitudes toward rules and regulations on COVID-19 critically influence compliance. Thus, one goal of public policy should be to maintain high levels of support for non-pharmaceutical interventions to keep actual compliance high. |
| Forthcoming: |
No |
| Language: |
English |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
SARS-CoV-2; antibody; health care workers |
| Link eMedia: |
Download |
| Citation: |
Sellmeier, Anna C. and Elsner, Andreas and Niedergassel, Tim and Schmitz, Johannes and Rehberg, Sebastian and Hornberg, Claudia and Vordemvenne, Thomas and Wähnert, Dirk
(2022)
COVID-19 after the first wave of the pandemic among employees from a German university hospital: prevalence and questionnaire data.
Journal of Medicine and Life, 15 (9).
pp. 1119-1128.
ISSN 1844-122x
|
 |
View Item in edit mode (academic staff only) |
