Towards an integrated approach on occupational health to tackle COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Serological screening is crucial for the prevention of infection, ensuring the maintenance of the worker’s health, and thus promoting occupational health. It was reported that SARS-CoV-2 can survive in aerosols and on dry surfaces for several days to weeks. Objectives: We aimed to apply an integrated approach to Occupational Health to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: We performed a rapid immunoglobulin IgM-IgG immunoassay, ELISA, and hematologic profile among workers (N = 740), in a Public Higher Education Institution from Portugal and an environmental assessment by two sampling methods (Air N = 49; Surfaces N = 101) and RT-PCR. Results: Regarding workers' serologic surveillance, 1.89% of rapid test positivity was observed for SARS-CoV-2 IgM antibodies and a low prevalence of positivity for IgG (1.21%) in which only 33.3% were confirmed by ELISA. Hematologic surveillance data revealed the presence of 10.44% of abnormal hematological profiles, being anemia (3.78%) being the most relevant. All the environmental samples analyzed were negative regarding SARS-CoV-2 detection. Discussion: Low SARS-CoV-2 immunization and the negative environmental samples strongly indicate the effectiveness of the preventive measures. Nevertheless, COVID-19 disease alters hematologic parameters. Conclusion: In this study, it was possible to implement an integrated approach to Occupational Health combining efforts with the Occupational Health Services.

Description

Project IPL Momento Zero: Assegurar a retoma letiva em pandemia COVID19
FCT_UIDB/05608/2020. FCT_UIDP/05608/2020.

Keywords

Occupational health Integrated approach COVID-19 Pandemics Seroprevalence Environmental assessment Project IPL Momento Zero: Assegurar a retoma letiva em pandemia COVID19 FCT_UIDB/05608/2020 FCT_UIDP/05608/2020

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/16653

Citation

Ribeiro E, Oliveira K, Dias M, Gomes B, Pimenta R, Delgadinho M, Ginete C, Abreu R, Almeida-Silva M, Almeida A, Gomes AQ, Brito M, Viegas C. Towards an integrated approach on occupational health to tackle COVID-19 pandemic. In: Arezes PM, Melo RB, Carneiro P, Castelo Branco J, Colim A, Costa N, et al, editors. Occupational and environmental safety and health V: studies in systems, decision and control (Vol. 492). Cham: Springer; 2024. p. 265-84.