Investigation of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 virus infection among employees of the University Hospital in Prague - Motol in the summer of 2021
Abstract
The University Hospital in Prague - Motol conducted a seroprevalence study among its employees during the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 2020 and subsequently in 2021. While in 2020 positivity was found in only 2% of tested employees, in 2021 the situation changed significantly with the ongoing waves of infection and the initiation of vaccination programs.
The presented study provides an overview of the current status of the immune response among hospital employees in September 2021. The data show a very significant vaccination rate among employees of the hospital that provides a very good and stable antibody response, especially robust in those who have had COVID-19 in addition to vaccination.
The infection itself induces a diversified immune response against a wider range of viral antigens, but compared to vaccination, it is accompanied by a lack of detectable antibody levels several months after infection in a subset of vaccinees. Monitoring of adverse reactions after vaccination or acquired disease after vaccination yielded the expected results, confirming mainly the frequent occurrence of mild, mainly local reactions and the possibility of breaking vaccination protection in a small number of about 2% of vaccinated persons, presenting mostly as an asymptomatic or mild disease.
The work also discusses the individual approach to a few individual employees who did not respond to basal vaccinations and whose situation was addressed, in some cases, by indications of further vaccination dose, with afavorable outcome. Overall, the situation among employees in terms of their immune response can be assessed as very favorable, reflecting the stage of the pandemic in autumn 2021.