Abstract
Health care workers (HCW) are at high risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCW has been examined in cross-sectional studies by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) tests, which may lead to underestimating exact incidence rates. We thus investigated the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a group of HCW at a dedicated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospital in a six-month follow-up period. We conducted a prospective cohort study on 109 participants of both sexes working in areas of high, moderate, and low SARS-CoV-2 exposure. qPCR tests in nasopharyngeal swabs and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG serum antibodies were assessed at the beginning and six months later. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory parameters were analyzed according to IgG seropositivity by paired Student's T-test or the chi-square test. The incidence rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection was considerably high in our cohort of HCW (58%), among whom 67% were asymptomatic carriers. No baseline risk factors contributed to the infection rate, including the workplace. It is still necessary to increase hospital safety procedures to prevent virus transmissibility from HCW to relatives and non-COVID-19 patients during the upcoming waves of contagion.