A Period Seroprevalence (SARS-CoV-2) Survey in MHCCN Cancer Healthcare Workers (HCWs) Providing Patient Care during the Height of the Outbreak: A Registry Study

2019年12月，中国武汉出现了一种尚未出现特征的肺炎，预示着由严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒-2 （SARS-CoV-2）引起的冠状病毒大流行的开始。病因和疾病概况，又名冠状病毒病-2019 (COVID-19)，已迅速阐明；尽管人们对病毒传播的了解相当缺乏。缓解和控制疫情的公共卫生措施受到短缺和扩大检测的阻碍。这种病毒是我们一生中最具传染性的病毒之一，被认为主要通过飞沫感染传播。病毒也通过空气传播途径和在无症状感染期间传播，这使公共卫生措施复杂化。缺乏个人防护装备和不同的使用策略进一步加剧了这种情况。这些现实情况使医护人员在为已知感染患者和高度怀疑COVID-19的调查对象提供护理时面临风险。我们提出了一项假设驱动期SARS-CoV-2在缅因州卫生保健癌症护理网络（MHCCN）癌症医护人员（HCWs）在一个规模较大的农村卫生系统和学术医疗中心的血清患病率研究。我们的研究是基于缺乏可靠的血清流行病学数据来定义我们的癌症提供者的职业暴露和SARS-CoV-2感染风险。我们预计我们的癌症HCWs会迅速招募（目标1），并推出血清抗体（IgG/IgM）测试（目标2）来确定暴露。将完成简短的临床和职业调查。这一队列在维持和提供关于sars - cov -2传播动态的信息方面是非常宝贵的，这些信息将指导对这一大流行的持续应对，特别是在预计的第二波浪潮中，这将为农村社区环境中的癌症护理提供信息。该项目是根据NOT-CA-20-0421提交的，与MaineHealth Lifespan NCORP （1UG1 CA239771-01）密切相关，后者是根据PA-18-591提交并随后授予的母基金。

In December 2019, the emergence of an as yet uncharacterized pneumonia in Wuhan, China heralded the onset of the coronavirus pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The etiology and disease profile, aka Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), has been quickly elucidated; though there is considerable lack of understanding of viral transmission. Public health measures to mitigate and contain the outbreak are hampered by scarcity and scaling up testing. The virus is among the most contagious in our lifetimes and thought to be primarily transmitted by droplet infection. Viral transmission also occurs by airborne routes and during asymptomatic periods of infection, which complicates public health measures. This is further compounded by lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and different strategies for use. These realities place Healthcare Workers (HCWs) at risk providing care to known infected patients and Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) with high suspicion of COVID-19. We propose a hypothesis-driven period sero-prevalence study of SARS-CoV-2 in MaineHealth Cancer Care Network (MHCCN) cancer Healthcare Workers (HCWs) at a sizeable rural health system and academic medical center. Our study is predicated on the lack of sound sero-epidemiological data to define occupational exposure and risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in our cancer providers. We anticipate brisk recruitment of our cancer HCWs (Aim 1) and roll-out of a sero-antibody (IgG/IgM) test (Aim 2) to determine exposure. Brief clinical and occupational surveys will be completed. This cohort is invaluable to sustain and provide information on the SARS-CoV-2-transmission dynamics that will guide continued response to this pandemic, especially with an anticipated second wave that will inform cancer care in the rural community setting. This project is submitted in response to NOT-CA-20-0421 and is closely integrated and tethered to MaineHealth Lifespan NCORP (1UG1 CA239771-01) the parent grant that was submitted and subsequently awarded under PA-18-591.