Repeated Antigen-Based Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Estimating the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Prevalence from the Perspective of the Workers’ Vulnerability before and during the Lockdown

Kotsiou, Ourania S.; Pantazopoulos, Ioannis; Papagiannis, Dimitrios; Fradelos, Evangelos C.; Kanellopoulos, Nikolaos; Siachpazidou, Dimitra; Kirgou, Paraskevi; Mouliou, Dimitra S.; Kyritsis, Athanasios; Kalantzis, Georgios; Saharidis, Georgios K. D.; Tzounis, Efthymios; Gourgoulianis, Konstantinos I.

doi:10.3390/ijerph18041638

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Repeated Antigen-Based Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Estimating the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Prevalence from the Perspective of the Workers’ Vulnerability before and during the Lockdown

Ourania S. Kotsiou

^1,2,*

Ioannis Pantazopoulos

Dimitrios Papagiannis

Evangelos C. Fradelos

^1,3

Nikolaos Kanellopoulos

²,

²,

²,

²,

⁴,

Georgios K. D. Saharidis

⁴,

Efthymios Tzounis

⁵ and

Konstantinos I. Gourgoulianis

Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, GAIOPOLIS, 41110 Larissa, Greece

Department of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, BIOPOLIS, 41110 Larissa, Greece

Public Health & Vaccines Lab, Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, GAIOPOLIS, 41110 Larissa, Greece

⁴

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Thessaly, Leoforos Athinon, 8 Pedion Areos, 38334 Volos, Greece

⁵

Volos Health Center, Thrakon 20, 38333 Volos, Greece

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Paul B. Tchounwou

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 1638; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041638

Received: 19 January 2021 / Revised: 2 February 2021 / Accepted: 3 February 2021 / Published: 9 February 2021

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Abstract

Background: No previous study has investigated the SARS-CoV-2 prevalence and the changes in the proportion of positive results due to lockdown measures from the angle of workers’ vulnerability to coronavirus in Greece. Two community-based programs were implemented to evaluate the SARS-CoV-2 prevalence and investigate if the prevalence changes were significant across various occupations before and one month after lockdown. Methods: Following consent, sociodemographic, clinical, and job-related information were recorded. The VivaDiag™ SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Test was used. Positive results confirmed by a real-time Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction for SARS-COV-2. Results: Positive participants were more likely to work in the catering/food sector than negative participants before the lockdown. Lockdown restrictions halved the new cases. No significant differences in the likelihood of being SARS-CoV-2 positive for different job categories were detected during lockdown. The presence of respiratory symptoms was an independent predictor for rapid antigen test positivity; however, one-third of newly diagnosed patients were asymptomatic at both time points. Conclusions: The catering/food sector was the most vulnerable to COVID-19 at the pre-lockdown evaluation. We highlight the crucial role of community-based screening with rapid antigen testing to evaluate the potential modes of community transmission and the impact of infection control strategies. View Full-Text

Keywords: antigen rapid test; employment; job; lockdown restrictions; screening

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

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MDPI and ACS Style

Kotsiou, O.S.; Pantazopoulos, I.; Papagiannis, D.; Fradelos, E.C.; Kanellopoulos, N.; Siachpazidou, D.; Kirgou, P.; Mouliou, D.S.; Kyritsis, A.; Kalantzis, G.; Saharidis, G.K.D.; Tzounis, E.; Gourgoulianis, K.I. Repeated Antigen-Based Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Estimating the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Prevalence from the Perspective of the Workers’ Vulnerability before and during the Lockdown. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 1638. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041638

AMA Style

Kotsiou OS, Pantazopoulos I, Papagiannis D, Fradelos EC, Kanellopoulos N, Siachpazidou D, Kirgou P, Mouliou DS, Kyritsis A, Kalantzis G, Saharidis GKD, Tzounis E, Gourgoulianis KI. Repeated Antigen-Based Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Estimating the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Prevalence from the Perspective of the Workers’ Vulnerability before and during the Lockdown. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(4):1638. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041638

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kotsiou, Ourania S., Ioannis Pantazopoulos, Dimitrios Papagiannis, Evangelos C. Fradelos, Nikolaos Kanellopoulos, Dimitra Siachpazidou, Paraskevi Kirgou, Dimitra S. Mouliou, Athanasios Kyritsis, Georgios Kalantzis, Georgios K.D. Saharidis, Efthymios Tzounis, and Konstantinos I. Gourgoulianis. 2021. "Repeated Antigen-Based Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Estimating the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Prevalence from the Perspective of the Workers’ Vulnerability before and during the Lockdown" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 4: 1638. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041638

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Repeated Antigen-Based Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Estimating the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Prevalence from the Perspective of the Workers’ Vulnerability before and during the Lockdown

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