Occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare personnel: results from an early systematic review and meta-analysis.

Main Article Content

Matteo Riccò http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6525-2159
Giovanni Gualerzi
Silvia Ranzieri
Simona Peruzzi
Marina Valente
Federico Marchesi
Nicola Luigi Bragazzi
Carlo Signorelli

Keywords

COVID-19, healthcare workers, epidemiology, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus

Abstract

Background. SARS-CoV-2 infection has become a global public health concern globally. Even though Healthcare Workers (HCWs) are supposedly at increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection, to date no pooled evidence has been collected.


Materials and Methods. We searched online electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, medRxiv.org for pre-prints) for all available contribution (up to May 20, 2019). Two Authors independently screened articles and extracted the data. The pooled prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was analyzed using the random-effects model. The possible sources of heterogeneity were analyzed through subgroup analysis, and meta-regression.


Results. The overall pooled prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was 3.5% (95%CI 1.8–6.6) for studies based on molecular assays, 5.5% (95%CI 2.1–14.1) for studies based on serological assays, and 6.5% (95%CI 2.5–15.6) for point-of-care capillary blood tests. Among subgroups, serological tests identified higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in physicians than in nurses (OR 1.436, 95%CI 1.026 to 2.008). Regression analysis indicated the possible presence of publication bias only for molecular tests (t -3.3526, p-value 0.002648).


Conclusions. The overall pooled prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was lower than previously expected, but available studies were affected by significant heterogeneity, and the molecular studies by significant publication bias. Therefore, further high-quality research in the field is warranted.

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