SARS-CoV-2 cross-sectional seroprevalence study among public school staff in Metro Vancouver after the first Omicron wave in British Columbia, Canada

Watts, Allison W.; Mâsse, Louise C.; Goldfarb, David M.; Irvine, Mike A.; Hutchison, Sarah M.; Muttucomaroe, Lauren; Poon, Bethany; Barakauskas, Vilte E.; O'Reilly, Collette; Bosman, Else; Reicherz, Frederic; Coombs, Daniel; Pitblado, Mark; O'Brien, Sheila F.; Lavoie, Pascal M.

SARS-CoV-2 cross-sectional seroprevalence study among public school staff in Metro Vancouver after the first Omicron wave in British Columbia, Canada

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creativework.keywords - en: COVID-19; epidemiology; paediatrics; public health
dc.contributor.author: Watts, Allison W.; Mâsse, Louise C.; Goldfarb, David M.; Irvine, Mike A.; Hutchison, Sarah M.; Muttucomaroe, Lauren; Poon, Bethany; Barakauskas, Vilte E.; O'Reilly, Collette; Bosman, Else; Reicherz, Frederic; Coombs, Daniel; Pitblado, Mark; O'Brien, Sheila F.; Lavoie, Pascal M.
dc.date.accepted: 2023-04-14
dc.date.accessioned: 2024-01-04T16:29:03Z
dc.date.available: 2024-01-04T16:29:03Z
dc.date.issued: 2023-06-12
dc.date.submitted: 2022-12-21
dc.description.abstract - en: OBJECTIVE To determine the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among school workers within the Greater Vancouver area, British Columbia, Canada, after the first Omicron wave. DESIGN Cross-sectional study by online questionnaire, with blood serology testing. SETTING Three main school districts (Vancouver, Richmond and Delta) in the Vancouver metropolitan area. PARTICIPANTS Active school staff enrolled from January to April 2022, with serology testing between 27 January and 8 April 2022. Seroprevalence estimates were compared with data obtained from Canadian blood donors weighted over the same sampling period, age, sex and postal code distribution. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibody testing results adjusted for test sensitivity and specificity, and regional variation across school districts using Bayesian models. RESULTS Of 1850 school staff enrolled, 65.8% (1214/1845) reported close contact with a COVID-19 case outside the household. Of those close contacts, 51.5% (625/1214) were a student and 54.9% (666/1214) were a coworker. Cumulative incidence of COVID-19 positive testing by selfreported nucleic acid or rapid antigen testing since the beginning of the pandemic was 15.8% (291/1845). In a representative sample of 1620 school staff who completed serology testing (87.6%), the adjusted seroprevalence was 26.5% (95% CrI 23.9% to 29.3%), compared with 32.4% (95% CrI 30.6% to 34.5%) among 7164 blood donors. CONCLUSION Despite frequent COVID-19 exposures reported, SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among school staff in this setting remained no greater than the community reference group. Results are consistent with the premise that many infections were acquired outside the school setting, even with Omicron.
dc.identifier.citation: Watts AW, Mâsse LC, Goldfarb DM, et al. SARS-CoV-2 cross-sectional seroprevalence study among public school staff in Metro Vancouver after the first Omicron wave in British Columbia, Canada. BMJ Open 2023;13:e071228. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-071228
dc.identifier.doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-071228
dc.identifier.issn: 2044-6055
dc.identifier.uri: https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/1428
dc.language.iso: en
dc.publisher: BMJ Open
dc.rights - en: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
dc.rights - fr: Creative Commons Attribution-Pas d’Utilisation Commerciale 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
dc.rights.openaccesslevel - en: Gold
dc.rights.openaccesslevel - fr: Or
dc.rights.uri - en: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.rights.uri - fr: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.fr
dc.subject - en: Health
dc.subject - fr: Santé
dc.subject.en - en: Health
dc.subject.fr - fr: Santé
dc.title - en: SARS-CoV-2 cross-sectional seroprevalence study among public school staff in Metro Vancouver after the first Omicron wave in British Columbia, Canada
dc.type - en: Article
dc.type - fr: Article
local.article.journalissue: 6
local.article.journaltitle: BMJ Open
local.article.journalvolume: 13
local.peerreview - en: Yes
local.peerreview - fr: Oui