[Skip to Content]
[Skip to Content Landing]

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Health Care Personnel in the New York City Area

Educational Objective
To understand the prevalence of COVID-19 antibodies in Health Care Personnel in the New York City Area
1 Credit CME

The greater New York City (NYC) area, including the 5 boroughs and surrounding counties, has a high incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),1 and health care personnel (HCP) working there have a high exposure risk. HCP have expressed concerns about access to testing so that infection spread to patients, other HCP, and their families can be minimized.2 The Northwell Health System, the largest in New York State, sought to address this concern by offering voluntary antibody testing to all HCP. We investigated the prevalence of antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among HCP and associations with demographics, primary work location and type, and suspicion of virus exposure.

Sign in to take quiz and track your certificates

Buy This Activity

JN Learning™ is the home for CME and MOC from the JAMA Network. Search by specialty or US state and earn AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ from articles, audio, Clinical Challenges and more. Learn more about CME/MOC

CME Disclosure Statement: Unless noted, all individuals in control of content reported no relevant financial relationships. If applicable, all relevant financial relationships have been mitigated.

Article Information

Corresponding Author: Karina W. Davidson, PhD, MASc, Northwell Health, 130 E 59th St, Ste 14C, New York, NY 10022 (kdavidson2@northwell.edu).

Accepted for Publication: July 23, 2020.

Published Online: August 6, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.14765

Correction: This article was corrected on December 8, 2020, for data inaccuracies in the text and tables.

Author Contributions: Drs Davidson and Chang had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Concept and design: All authors.

Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Sembajwe, Jarrett, Farber, Chang, Davidson.

Drafting of the manuscript: Moscola, Sembajwe, Farber, Chang, Davidson.

Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Sembajwe, Jarrett, McGinn, Davidson.

Statistical analysis: Sembajwe.

Obtained funding: Davidson.

Administrative, technical, or material support: Moscola, Jarrett, Farber, Chang, McGinn, Davidson.

Supervision: McGinn, Davidson.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

Funding/Support: This work was supported by grants R24AG064191 from the National Institute on Aging and R01LM012836 from the National Library of Medicine.

Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; or decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Health and Human Services, or any other government entity. Dr Davidson is a member of the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). This article does not represent the views and policies of the USPSTF.

Additional Contributions: We thank the members of the Northwell Health COVID-19 Research Consortium who contributed to this study: Lance B. Becker, MD (North Shore University Hospital/Long Island Jewish Emergency Medical Department, Northwell Health); Dwayne A. Breining, MD, Jacqueline Moline, MD, MSc (Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Northwell Health); Mark J. Butler, PhD, Jennifer Cookingham, MHA, Andrew J. Dominello, BA, Louise Falzon, BA, PGDipInf, Cirrus Foroughi, PhD, Jennifer C. Johnson, MS, MA, Jazmin N. Mogavero, MA, Rachel Monane, BBA, Frank Vicari, BS (Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Northwell Health); James M. Crawford, MD, PhD, Sharon S. Fox, BS, Stefan Juretschko, PhD, D(ABMM), Cheryl B. Schleicher, MS-HCA, BA (Northwell Health Laboratories, Northwell Health); Christopher J. Hutchins, Kristen M. McPhillips, MBA, PMP, and Abraham Saraya, MD, MSc (Northwell Health). None of these individuals received any compensation for their contributions.

References
1.
Richardson  S , Hirsch  JS , Narasimhan  M ,  et al; Northwell COVID-19 Research Consortium.  Presenting characteristics, comorbidities, and outcomes among 5700 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the New York City Area.   JAMA. 2020;323(20):2052-2059. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.6775PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
2.
Shanafelt  T , Ripp  J , Trockel  M .  Understanding and addressing sources of anxiety among health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.   JAMA. 2020;323(21):2133-2134. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.5893PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
3.
Association of Public Health Laboratories, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. Public Health Considerations: Serologic Testing for COVID-19. Version 1. Published May 7, 2020. Accessed June 1, 2020. https://www.aphl.org/programs/preparedness/crisis-management/documents/serologic-Testing-for-COVID-19.pdf
4.
Rosenberg  ES , Tesoriero  JM , Rosenthal  EM ,  et al.  Cumulative incidence and diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in New York.   Ann Epidemiol. Published online June 17, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.4326PubMedGoogle Scholar
5.
Sood  N , Simon  P , Ebner  P ,  et al.  Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies among adults in Los Angeles County, California, on April 10-11, 2020.   JAMA. 2020;323(23):2425-2427. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.8279PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
6.
Steensels  D , Oris  E , Coninx  L ,  et al.  Hospital-wide SARS-CoV-2 antibody screening in 3056 staff in a tertiary center in Belgium.   JAMA. 2020;324(2):195-197. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.11160PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
Close
Want full access to the AMA Ed Hub?
After you sign up for AMA Membership, make sure you sign in or create a Physician account with the AMA in order to access all learning activities on the AMA Ed Hub
Buy this activity
Close
Want full access to the AMA Ed Hub?
After you sign up for AMA Membership, make sure you sign in or create a Physician account with the AMA in order to access all learning activities on the AMA Ed Hub
Buy this activity
Close
With a personal account, you can:
  • Access free activities and track your credits
  • Personalize content alerts
  • Customize your interests
  • Fully personalize your learning experience
Education Center Collection Sign In Modal Right
Close

Name Your Search

Save Search
With a personal account, you can:
  • Access free activities and track your credits
  • Personalize content alerts
  • Customize your interests
  • Fully personalize your learning experience
Close
Close

Lookup An Activity

or

My Saved Searches

You currently have no searches saved.

Close

My Saved Courses

You currently have no courses saved.

Close