Author(s):
Ribeiro, Edna ; Oliveira, Ketlyn ; Dias, Marta ; Gomes, Bianca ; Pimenta, Raquel ; Delgadinho, Mariana ; Ginete, Catarina ; Abreu, Renato ; Almeida-Silva, Marina ; Almeida, Ana ; Gomes, Anita Q. ; Brito, Miguel ; Viegas, Carla
Date: 2024
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/16653
Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa
Subject(s): Occupational health; Integrated approach; COVID-19; Pandemics; Seroprevalence; Environmental assessment; Project IPL Momento Zero: Assegurar a retoma letiva em pandemia COVID19; FCT_UIDB/05608/2020; FCT_UIDP/05608/2020
Description
Background: Serological screening is crucial for the prevention of infection, ensuring the maintenance of the worker’s health, and thus promoting occupational health. It was reported that SARS-CoV-2 can survive in aerosols and on dry surfaces for several days to weeks. Objectives: We aimed to apply an integrated approach to Occupational Health to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: We performed a rapid immunoglobulin IgM-IgG immunoassay, ELISA, and hematologic profile among workers (N = 740), in a Public Higher Education Institution from Portugal and an environmental assessment by two sampling methods (Air N = 49; Surfaces N = 101) and RT-PCR. Results: Regarding workers' serologic surveillance, 1.89% of rapid test positivity was observed for SARS-CoV-2 IgM antibodies and a low prevalence of positivity for IgG (1.21%) in which only 33.3% were confirmed by ELISA. Hematologic surveillance data revealed the presence of 10.44% of abnormal hematological profiles, being anemia (3.78%) being the most relevant. All the environmental samples analyzed were negative regarding SARS-CoV-2 detection. Discussion: Low SARS-CoV-2 immunization and the negative environmental samples strongly indicate the effectiveness of the preventive measures. Nevertheless, COVID-19 disease alters hematologic parameters. Conclusion: In this study, it was possible to implement an integrated approach to Occupational Health combining efforts with the Occupational Health Services.
