INVESTIGATION OF SEROPREVALENCE OF IgG ANTIBODIES AMONG HEALTH CARE WORKERS IN VIRAL RESEARCH AND DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY, AMRITSAR

Abstract

Health care workers constitute the group of people who take care of COVID-19 patients. Thus, they are highly vulnerable to contract SARS-CoV-2 infection and pose a great threat to co-workers and general public. Seroprevalence studies are an important tool to monitor the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and assess the level of exposure among HCWs. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 among Health Care Workers. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted at Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, Government Medical College, st th Amritsar for a period from 1 December 2020 to 15 January 2021. During this period, 90 blood samples were collected from the healthcare workers from Department of Microbiology and Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, Government Medical College, Amritsar. Serum samples were separated and used for detection of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies by ELISA technique. Results: Out of the 90 samples, 31 (34.44%) were found to be positive. Higher number of males 24 (26.67%) and lesser number of females 7 (7.78%) were observed with seropositivity. Out of the total participants in the study, 45.16% of laboratory supporting personnel, 19.35% of junior residents followed by housekeeping staff (12.90%), data entry operators (9.67%), consultants (6.45%) and Senior Residents/Research Scientists (6.45%) were observed to be IgG positive. It was also seen that in high risk exposure category 27.78% were seropositive and in low risk exposure group only 6.67% were seropositive and the difference between two groups was statistically signicant (p<0.000). Conclusion: High seropositivity was observed among health care workers due to their nature of work as frontline workers