Original Articles DETECTION OF SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONAVIRUS 2 SPECIFIC IgG ANTIBODY IN STAFF OF KING EDWARD MEDICAL UNIVERSITY LAHORE

Abstract

Background:
A new pandemic by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 is severely affecting daily life. It has caused more than million deaths and billions of dollars of economic loss. Cases are still on the rise and fear of uncertainty is still prevailing among the masses and especially among healthcare workers (HCW). Healthcare workers are at greater risk of contracting the disease as they are continually being exposed to patients. This study was designed to know the seroprevalence of SARS CoV-2 IgG antibody in the healthcare staff of King Edward Medical University, Lahore.

Material and Methods:
This prospective cross-sectional study was carried out from August 2020 to September 2020 at the Department of Pathology, King Edward Medical University Lahore. A total of 86 staff members were enrolled. Indirect ELISA was carried out to detect the SARS CoV-2 IgG antibody in serum samples of study participants. An interpretation was made according to manufacturer instruction as positive if the binding index was >1.1 and negative if it had a value of <0.9.

Result:
Mean age of study participants was 41.1 ± 12.5 years. Doctors constituted 52 (61%) of total participants, 34 (39%) were non-doctors. A total of 28 (33%) participants were from clinical departments while 58 (67%) were from basic medical sciences departments. SRAS CoV-2 IgG antibodies were detected in 39 (45%) of total study participants. Only a small number of seropositive participants 12 (31%) developed symptoms related to COVID-19 and 7 (58%) symptomatic individuals were above 40 years of age.

Conclusion:
The present study concludes that a higher number of healthcare staff was exposed to SARS CoV-2 but luckily the majority of them remain asymptomatic.