Discrepancy between frequent occurrence of COVID-19-like symptoms and low seroconversion rates among healthcare workers

October 11, 2021

Dehnen D, Dehnen K, Trilling M, et al.

Journal of Medical Virology

In outpatient medical workers, it is difficult to determine the presence or absence of COVID-19 due to its non-specific symptoms. Researchers sought to determine whether self-reporting of symptoms is enough to determine the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare workers or if testing is essential. In Germany, 891 general practice (GP) doctors and staff participated in blood sampling in June 2020 and 794 filled out a questionnaire about symptoms. Samples were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG. Overall, 15 participants (1.7%) tested positive in the blood screening, while 426 (53.7%) participants reported symptoms in months previous. Out of those that did not test positive in blood sampling (787 participants), 420 (53.4%) participants had at least one COVID-19 symptom, most common of which were headaches, fatigue, sore throats, and coughs. These results show the value of testing medical professionals, as self-diagnosis did not predict seropositivity of SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Dehnen D, Dehnen K, Trilling M, et al. Discrepancy between frequent occurrence of COVID-19-like symptoms and low seroconversion rates among healthcare workers. J Med Virol 2021; published online Oct 11. DOI:10.1002/JMV.27385.

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