Seroprevalence and factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection among education workers after the first wave: the first cross-sectional study in Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: França,Pâmela de Castro
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Silva,Paulo Goberlânio Barros, Rocha,Jose Lima de Carvalho, Perdigão,Anne Carolinne Bezerra, Oliveira,Nayara Santos de, Araújo,Fernanda Montenegro de Carvalho, Fonseca,Marcela Helena Gambim, Lima,Giovanna Rolim Pinheiro, Almeida,Magda Moura de, Alencar,Carlos Henrique, Oliveira,Wanderson Kleber de, Cavalcanti,Luciano Pamplona de Góes
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86822022000100314
• topic: Covid-19; Survey; School; SARS-CoV-2

ABSTRACT Background: The school community was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, especially with the long time of school closures. This study aimed to analyze the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and possible factors associated with seropositivity for COVID-19 in teachers and other school staff, and to estimate the fraction of asymptomatic individuals by sex and age group. Methods: We conducted a serological survey of SARS-CoV-2 infections. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in Fortaleza, Brazil. Teachers and other staff members from pre-schools to universities of higher education to were investigated. Results: A total of 1,901 professionals participated in the study, of which 1,021 were staff and 880 were teachers. The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was 8.0% (152/1901). In the seropositive group, 48.3% were asymptomatic. There was a predominance of women (68.4%); and, 47.1% of the participants were between 31 and 45 years old. There was an increase in prevalence with increasing age. An inverse relationship was found for education level: more professionals with less education tested positive for COVID-19. The presence of an infected person living in the same household was significantly associated with positive results for COVID-19 among the professionals. Conclusions: This is the first study to report the seroprevalence of IgG against SARS-CoV-2 in Brazilian educational staff after the first wave of the disease. In this study, the seroprevalence was much lower than that in the general population. During school reopening, a small fraction of school workers showed serologically detectable signs of SARS-CoV-2 exposure.