Screening of healthcare workers for SARS-CoV-2 highlights the role of asymptomatic carriage in COVID-19 transmission
Creators: name: Rivett, Lucy
name: Sridhar, Sushmita
name: Sparkes, Dominic
name: Routledge, Matthew
name: Jones, Nick K
name: Forrest, Sally
name: Young, Jamie
name: Pereira-Dias, Joana
name: Hamilton, William L
name: Ferris, Mark
name: Torok, M Estee
name: Meredith, Luke
name: Collaboration, The CITIID-NIHR COVID-19 BioResource
name: Curran, Martin D
name: Fuller, Stewart
name: Chaudhry, Afzal
name: Shaw, Ashley
name: Samworth, Richard J
name: Bradley, John R
name: Dougan, Gordon
name: Smith, Kenneth GC
name: Lehner, Paul J
name: Matheson, Nicholas J
name: Wright, Giles
name: Goodfellow, Ian G
name: Baker, Stephen
name: Weekes, Michael P
name: Gupta, Ravi
name: Lyons, Paul A
name: Toshner, Mark
name: Warne, Ben
name: Bartholdson Scott, Josefin
name: Cormie, Claire
name: Gill, Harmeet
name: Kean, Iain
name: Maes, Mailis
name: Reynolds, Nicola
name: Wantoch, Michelle
name: Caddy, Sarah
name: Caller, Laura
name: Feltwell, Theresa
name: Hall, Grant
name: Hosmillo, Myra
name: Houldcroft, Charlotte
name: Jahun, Aminu
name: Khokhar, Fahad
name: Yakovleva, Anna
name: Butcher, Helen
name: Caputo, Daniela
name: Clapham-Riley, Debra
name: Dolling, Helen
name: Furlong, Anita
name: Graves, Barbara
name: Gresley, Emma Le
name: Kingston, Nathalie
name: Papadia, Sofia
name: Stark, Hannah
name: Stirrups, Kathleen E
name: Webster, Jennifer
name: Calder, Joanna
name: Harris, Julie
name: Hewitt, Sarah
name: Kennet, Jane
name: Meadows, Anne
name: Rastall, Rebecca
name: Brien, Criona O
name: Price, Jo
name: Publico, Cherry
name: Rowlands, Jane
name: Ruffolo, Valentina
name: Tordesillas, Hugo
name: Brookes, Karen
name: Canna, Laura
name: Cruz, Isabel
name: Dempsey, Katie
name: Elmer, Anne
name: Escoffery, Naidine
name: Jones, Heather
name: Ribeiro, Carla
name: Saunders, Caroline
name: Wright, Angela
name: Nyagumbo, Rutendo
name: Roberts, Anne
name: Bucke, Ashlea
name: Hargreaves, Simone
name: Johnson, Danielle
name: Narcorda, Aileen
name: Read, Debbie
name: Sparke, Christian
name: Warboys, Lucy
name: Lagadu, Kirsty
name: Mactavous, Lenette
name: Gould, Tim
name: Raine, Tim
name: Mather, Claire
name: Ramenatte, Nicola
name: Vallier, Anne-Laure
name: Kasanicki, Mary
name: Eames, Penelope-Jane
name: McNicholas, Chris
name: Thake, Lisa
name: Bartholomew, Neil
name: Brown, Nick
name: Parmar, Surendra
name: Zhang, Hongyi
name: Bowring, Ailsa
name: Martell, Geraldine
name: Quinnell, Natalie
name: Wright, Jo
name: Murphy, Helen
name: Dunmore, Benjamin J
name: Legchenko, Ekaterina
name: Gräf, Stefan
name: Huang, Christopher
name: Hodgson, Josh
name: Hunter, Kelvin
name: Martin, Jennifer
name: Mescia, Federica
name: O'Donnell, Ciara
name: Pointon, Linda
name: Shih, Joy
name: Sutcliffe, Rachel
name: Tilly, Tobias
name: Tong, Zhen
name: Treacy, Carmen
name: Wood, Jennifer
name: Bergamaschi, Laura
name: Betancourt, Ariana
name: Bowyer, Georgie
name: De Sa, Aloka
name: Epping, Maddie
name: Hinch, Andrew
name: Huhn, Oisin
name: Jarvis, Isobel
name: Lewis, Daniel
name: Marsden, Joe
name: McCallum, Simon
name: Nice, Francescsa
Publisher: name: Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
Year: 2020
Subjects: Research Article
Epidemiology and Global Health
Human Biology and Medicine
COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2
infectious disease
virology
occupational health
emerging pathogens
Human
Virus

description: Funder: Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust, Cambridge University Hospitals; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002927
description: Significant differences exist in the availability of healthcare worker (HCW) SARS-CoV-2 testing between countries, and existing programmes focus on screening symptomatic rather than asymptomatic staff. Over a 3 week period (April 2020), 1032 asymptomatic HCWs were screened for SARS-CoV-2 in a large UK teaching hospital. Symptomatic staff and symptomatic household contacts were additionally tested. Real-time RT-PCR was used to detect viral RNA from a throat+nose self-swab. 3% of HCWs in the asymptomatic screening group tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. 17/30 (57%) were truly asymptomatic/pauci-symptomatic. 12/30 (40%) had experienced symptoms compatible with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)&gt;7 days prior to testing, most self-isolating, returning well. Clusters of HCW infection were discovered on two independent wards. Viral genome sequencing showed that the majority of HCWs had the dominant lineage B∙1. Our data demonstrates the utility of comprehensive screening of HCWs with minimal or no symptoms. This approach will be critical for protecting patients and hospital staff.