Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare professionals at a University Hospital in Rio de Janeiro during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020

The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was determined from a cross-sectional epidemiological survey carried out at the Gaffrée and Guinle University Hospital in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from October to November 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in the population of employees who worked in that period. Sociodemographic characterization was performed in addition to the analysis of associations between the variables of interest or exposure with SARS-CoV-2 infection to establish which signs and symptoms were more prevalent. For the study, blood samples were collected and immunochromatographic assays (COVID-19 IgG/IgM ECO Test® and Medtest® Coronavirus (COVID-19) IgG/IgM) were used to detect IgG and IgM anti-SARS-CoV-2. A sample calculation obtaining 391 health professionals showed that 173 (44.2%) individuals had at least one positive result for SARS-CoV-2 infection. There was no significant difference between the median ages of patients who had SARS-CoV-2 infection (median 40 years, IIQ 34-53) and those who did not have infection (median 39 years, IIQ 32-49), P value = 0.148. There was also no difference between the sex of professionals with and without SARS-COV-2 infection (OR = 1.02; 95% CI 0.59 ­ 1.78). Of the 173 professionals who had SARS-COV-2 infection, 70 (40.5%) reported symptoms related to COVID-19, while 41 (23.7%) professionals reported that they had no symptoms and 62 (35.8%) did not report on the presence or absence of symptoms, being excluded from the analysis. The symptoms most frequently presented by the infected professionals were: headache 46.5% (59/127); loss of smell 32.3% (41/127); loss of taste 30.7% (39/127); dry cough 27.6% (35/127); diarrhea 24.4% (31/127); body pain 27.6% (35/127); another 13.4% (17/127); leg pain 11.8% (15/127); dizziness 11.8% (15/127) and fever 9.4% (12/127). Establish a surveillance protocol with an easy and quick test for COVID-19 policies among frontline and care professionals is imperative to control the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and define epidemiological criteria that guide the decision-making regarding the isolation of symptomatic and asymptomatic infected professionals.