Asymptomatic SARS COV-2 carriers among nursing home staff: A source of contamination for residents?

Catherine Bayle; Delphine Cantin; Jean-Sebastien Vidal; Elise Sourdeau; Laurence Slama; Nicolas Dumesges; Sabine Trombert; Sonia Ayllon; Jean-Marie Nguyen; Dorsaf Slama; Mohamed Medaghecha; Olivier Hanon; Dominique Salmon; APHP COVID 19 research collaboration

doi:10.1016/j.idnow.2020.11.008

Asymptomatic SARS COV-2 carriers among nursing home staff: A source of contamination for residents?

Infect Dis Now. 2021 Mar;51(2):197-200. doi: 10.1016/j.idnow.2020.11.008. Epub 2021 Jan 18.

Authors

Catherine Bayle^{1

2}, Delphine Cantin³, Jean-Sebastien Vidal^{1

2}, Elise Sourdeau³, Laurence Slama^{3

4}, Nicolas Dumesges³, Sabine Trombert⁵, Sonia Ayllon⁶, Jean-Marie Nguyen¹, Dorsaf Slama⁴, Mohamed Medaghecha⁴, Olivier Hanon^{1

2}, Dominique Salmon^{3

4

7}; APHP COVID 19 research collaboration

Affiliations

¹ Geriatry Department, Broca Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpitaux Universitaires Paris Centre, Paris, France.
² EA 4468, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
³ COVID-19 screening center, Emergency Department, Hotel Dieu Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 75004 Paris, France.
⁴ Infectious Diseases and Immunology Unit, Hotel Dieu Hospital, 1, place du Parvis de Notre-Dame, 75004 Paris, France.
⁵ Cerba Laboratory, Saint-Ouen L'Aumône, France.
⁶ Emergency Department, Cochin Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 75004 Paris, France.
⁷ University of Paris, School of Medicine, 75005, Paris, France.

Abstract

Objectives: To show that circulation of SARS-COV-2 in nursing homes in France can come from staff as well as residents' families, whether they are known or not to have had COVID-19.

Methods: This study reports a screening campaign of asymptomatic staff working in elderly nursing homes in Paris where the virus had been circulating actively in March and April 2020.

Results: Before the screening campaign, the rate of symptomatic COVID-19 was 23.3% among the residents and 12.1% among their home employees. Within a 72 h screening period, all employees not known to have the virus were screened by RT-PCR in nasopharyngeal swabs. Among the 241 screened employees, 32 (13.3%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR. SARS-CoV-2 carriers and non-carriers did not differ in term of gender, age or type of staff. Staff carrying SARS-CoV-2 were strictly asymptomatic in 75% of cases while during the days following or before the test, 25% presented mild symptoms of COVID-19. Considering both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases, 66 out of 281 (23.5%) of the home employees had been carriers for COVID-19.

Conclusion: Screening for viral carriage of asymptomatic staff in nursing homes can avoid contact and transmission to frequently severely vulnerable residents.

Keywords: COVID-19; Nursing homes; SARS COV-2; asymptomatic carriers; staff workers.