High Amounts of SARS-CoV-2 Precede Sickness Among Asymptomatic Health Care Workers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positivity among asymptomatic subjects reflects past or future disease may be difficult to ascertain.

Methods

We tested 9449 employees at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden for SARS-CoV-2 RNA and antibodies, linked the results to sick leave records, and determined associations with past or future sick leave using multinomial logistic regression.

Results

Subjects with high amounts of SARS-CoV-2 virus, indicated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cycle threshold (Ct) value, had the highest risk for sick leave in the 2 weeks after testing (odds ratio [OR], 11.97; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6.29-22.80) whereas subjects with low amounts of virus had the highest risk for sick l

SUBMITTER: Dillner J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7928785 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature