SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence among firefighters in Orange County, California.

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  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: BMJ Pub. Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9422759 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1470-7926 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 13510711 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Occup Environ Med Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Original Publication: London : BMJ Pub. Group, c1994-
    • Subject Terms:
      Antibodies, Viral/*immunology ; COVID-19/*epidemiology ; Firefighters/*statistics & numerical data ; SARS-CoV-2/*immunology; Adult ; COVID-19/immunology ; California/epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G/immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Exposure/statistics & numerical data ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Young Adult
    • Abstract:
      Objectives: We conducted serological SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing from October to November 2020 to estimate the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among firefighters/paramedics in Orange County (OC), California.
      Methods: OC firefighters employed at the time of the surveillance activity were invited to participate in a voluntary survey that collected demographic, occupational and previous COVID-19 testing data, and a SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibody blood test. We collected venous blood samples using mobile phlebotomy teams that travelled to individual fire stations, in coordination with an annual tuberculosis testing campaign for firefighters employed by OC Fire Authority (OCFA), and independently for firefighters employed by cities. We estimated seroprevalence and assessed several potential predictors of seropositivity.
      Results: The seroprevalence was 5.3% among 923 OCFA personnel tested, with 92.2% participating. Among firefighters self-reporting a previous positive COVID-19 antibody or PCR test result, twenty-one (37%) did not have positive IgG tests in the current serosurvey. There were no statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics between cases and non-cases. Work city was a significant predictor of case status (p=0.015). Seroprevalence (4.8%) was similar when aggregated across seven city fire departments (42%-65% participation). In total, 1486°C fire personnel were tested.
      Conclusion: Using a strong serosurvey design and large firefighter cohort, we observed a SARS-CoV-2 IgG seroprevalence of 5.3%. The seroprevalence among OC firefighters in October 2020 was lower than the general county population estimated seroprevalence (11.5%) in August. The difference may be due in part to safety measures taken by OC fire departments at the start of the pandemic, as well as differences in antibody test methods and/or duration of antibody response.
      Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.
      (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)
    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: firefighters
    • Accession Number:
      0 (Antibodies, Viral)
      0 (Immunoglobulin G)
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20210826 Date Completed: 20211022 Latest Revision: 20211022
    • Publication Date:
      20231215
    • Accession Number:
      10.1136/oemed-2021-107461
    • Accession Number:
      34433659