A 2-month field cohort study of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva of BNT162b2 vaccinated nursing home workers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Nursing home (NH) residents have been severely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic because of their age and underlying comorbidities. Infection and outbreaks in NHs are most likely triggered by infected workers. Screening for asymptomatic NH workers can prevent risky contact and viral transmission to the residents. This study examined the effect of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID‑19 (Comirnaty^®; BioNTech and Pfizer) vaccination on the saliva excretion of SARS-CoV-2 among NH workers, through weekly saliva RT-qPCR testing.

Methods

A 2-month cohort study was conducted among 99 NHs in the Walloon region (Belgium), at the start of February 2021. Three groups of workers, i.e., non-vaccinated (n = 1618), one-dosed vaccinated (n = 1454), and two-dosed v

SUBMITTER: Saegerman C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9053279 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature