SARS-CoV-2 infection among Brazilian dentists: a seroprevalence study

Ribeiro, Jaiane Augusta Medeiros; Farias, Stefany Joaquina de Sousa; Souza, Tiago Araújo Coelho de; Stefani, Cristine Miron; Lima, Adriano de Almeida de; Lia, Erica Negrini

doi:10.1590/1807-3107bor-2022.vol36.0035

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Original Research, Social/Community Dentistry • Braz. oral. res. 36 • 2022 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-3107bor-2022.vol36.0035 copy

SARS-CoV-2 infection among Brazilian dentists: a seroprevalence study

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract:

This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among Brazilian dentists and its associated factors. Stratified random sampling of dentists from 33 administrative regions of the Federal District (Brazil) was performed. The presence of antibodies was verified by the OnSite COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test. Participants answered a survey about sociodemographic characteristics, exposure to COVID-19, and professional practice. A chi-square test was performed between serostatus and exposure variables. Mann-Whitney tests were carried out for quantitative variables. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated. A series of binomial logistic regression models was performed. The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among 324 selected dentists was 19.1%. There was a statistically significant association between seropositivity and previous confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, loss of taste or smell, diagnosis of COVID-19 in a household member, and treatment of a patient with fever. Dentists with a previous confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 had 29.5 [12.7–68.4] higher odds to exhibit positive serology test results. Dentists with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 in a household member had 2.5 [1.1–5.3] times higher odds to exhibit positive serology test results. Professionals with loss of taste or smell in the last 15 days had 5.24 [1.1–24.1] times higher odds to exhibit positive serology test results, and, for those who had treated patients with fever, there were 2.99 [1.03–8.7] times higher odds to exhibit negative serology test results. There was a similar prevalence rate of infection among dentists and in the general population. Nevertheless, this finding applies to the epidemiological situation in 2020, before the development of vaccines and the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant.

Keywords:
SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; COVID-19 Serological Testing; Cross-Sectional Studies

Variable		n	%
Serology test results
	IgG	21	6.5
	IgM	12	3.7
	IgG/IgM	29	9.0
	Negative	262	80.8
Sex
	Female	217	67.0
	Male	107	33.0
Age (years)
	< 25	20	6.1
	25–30	59	18.2
	31–40	88	27.1
	41–50	92	28.4
	51–60	58	17.9
	> 60	7	2.1
Years of practice
	< 5	67	20.6
	5–10	64	19.8
	11–15	39	11.9
	16–20	46	14.3
	21–30	78	24.2
	> 30	30	9.0
Educational level
	Graduate degree	56	17.3
	Specialization or Residency	233	71.9
	Master's degree	23	7.1
	Doctoral degree	7	2.2
	Post-doctoral degree	5	1.5
Ways of commuting to work
	On foot	10	3.1
	App transportation	6	1.9
	Own transport (car or motorcycle)	291	89.8
	Public transportation (bus or subway)	15	4.6
	None	2	0.6
Professional practice
	Private sector	290	89.5
	Public sector	70	21.6
Main source of income
	Private sector	270	83.3
	Public sector	54	16.6
Confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19
	No	276	85.2
	Yes	48	14.8
Test used for diagnosis
	I was not diagnosed with COVID-19	276	85.2
	Not sure	2	0.6
	Conventional PCR	32	9.9
	Rapid PCR	5	1.5
	Serological test	9	2.8
Risk groups
	Age over 60 years	9	2.8
	Asthma	17	5.2
	Diabetes	10	3.1
	Smokers	17	5.2
	High blood pressure	23	7.1
	Heart diseases	6	1.9
Symptoms in the last 15 days
	Fatigue	42	13.0
	Diarrhea	21	6.5
	Headache	54	16.7
	Myalgia	25	7.7
	Dyspnea	8	2.5
	Fever	4	1.2
	Loss of taste or smell	7	2.2
	Cough	21	6.5
Confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 in household member
	No	247	76.2
	Yes	77	23.8
Household member's symptoms in the last 15 days
	Fatigue	14	4.3
	Diarrhea	16	4.9
	Headache	38	11.7
	Myalgia	11	3.4
	Dyspnea	10	3.1
	Fever	19	5.9
	Loss of taste or smell	3	0.9
	Cough	7	2.2
Reduction in working hours during the pandemic
	None	73	22.5
	Away from work	21	6.5
	Worked fewer hours	192	59.3
	Worked on alternate days	38	11.7
Treatment of patient with COVID-19
	No	107	33.0
	Yes	217	67.0
Patient's symptoms during treatment
	Fatigue	49	15.1
	Diarrhea	22	6.8
	Headache	75	23.1
	Myalgia	29	9.0
	Dyspnea	42	13.0
	Fever	51	15.7
	Loss of taste or smell	41	12.7
	Cough	63	19.4
	Patients with no signs or symptoms	188	58.0
	Not performing patient care	30	9.3
Total		324	100.0

Variable			SARS-CoV-2 Serostatus		Total	Pearson's chi-square			Cramer's V
Variable			Negative	Positive	Total	Valor	df	p-value^* * p > 0.05 show statistically significant association between serostatus and variables.	Valor^ Value of Cramer's V shows magnitude of effect size – Small ≅ 0.1, Medium (Moderate) ≅ 0.3, Large ≥ 0.5.
Gender
	Female	N	175	42	217	0.02	1	0.887	0.008
	Female	%	80.60	19.40	100.00
	Male	N	87	20	107
	Male	%	81.30	18.70	100.00
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.90	19.10	100.00
Education level
	Graduate	N	44	12	56	1.975	4	0.74	0.078
	Graduate	%	78.60	21.40	100.00
	Specialization	N	187	46	233
	Specialization	%	80.30	19.70	100.00
	Master	N	21	2	23
	Master	%	91.30	8.70	100.00
	Doctor	N	6	1	7
	Doctor	%	85.70	14.30	100.00
	Post-doctoral	N	4	1	5
	Post-doctoral	%	80.00	20.00	100.00
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.90	19.10	100.00
Professional practice in private sector
	No	N	28	6	34	0.054	1	0.816	0.013
	No	%	82.40	17.60	100.00
	Yes	N	234	56	290
	Yes	%	80.70	19.30	100.00
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.90	19.10	100.00
Professional practice in public sector
	No	N	206	48	254	0.043	1	0.836	0.012
	No	%	81.10	18.90	100.00
	Yes	N	56	14	70
	Yes	%	80.00	20.00	100.00
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.90	19.10	100.00
Work in a primary health care unit
	No	N	245	55	300	1.685	1	0.194	0.072
	No	%	81.7	18.3	100.0
	Yes	N	17	7	24
	Yes	%	70.8	29.2	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Belongs to the group of asthmatics
	No	N	246	61	307	2.037	1	0.154	0.079
	No	%	80.1	19.9	100.0
	Yes	N	16	1	17
	Yes	%	94.1	5.9	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Belongs to any risk group
	No	N	203	53	256	1.936	1	0.164	0.077
	No	%	79.3	20.7	100.0
	Yes	N	59	9	68
	Yes	%	86.8	13.2	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19
	No	N	252	24	276	131.227	1	0.000	0.636
	No	%	91.3	8.7	100.0
	Yes	N	10	38	48
	Yes	%	20.8	79.2	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Presented fatigue
	No	N	232	50	282	2.776	1	0.096	0.093
	No	%	82.3	17.7	100.0
	Yes	N	30	12	42
	Yes	%	71.4	28.6	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Presented dyspnea
	No	N	257	59	316	1.788	1	0.181	0.074
	No	%	81.3	18.7	100.0
	Yes	N	5	3	8
	Yes	%	62.5	37.5	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Presented fever
	No	N	260	60	320	2.493	1	0.114	0.088
	No	%	81.3	18.8	100.0
	Yes	N	2	2	4
	Yes	%	50.0	50.0	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Presented loss of taste or smell
	No	N	259	58	317	6.679	1	0.010	0.144
	No	%	81.7	18.3	100.0
	Yes	N	3	4	7
	Yes	%	42.9	57.1	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 in household
	No	N	218	29	247	36.729	1	0.000	0.337
	No	%	88.3	11.7	100.0
	Yes	N	44	33	77
	Yes	%	57.1	42.9	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Household's symptoms myalgia
	No	N	255	58	313	2.184	1	0.139	0.082
	No	%	81.5	18.5	100.0
	Yes	N	7	4	11
	Yes	%	63.6	36.4	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Household's symptoms Cough
	No	N	258	59	317	2.602	1	0.107	0.090
	No	%	81.4	18.6	100.0
	Yes	N	4	3	7
	Yes	%	57.1	42.9	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Household's symptoms in the last 15 days
	No	N	219	47	266	2.066	1	0.151	0.080
	No	%	82.3	17.7	100.0
	Yes	N	43	15	58
	Yes	%	74.1	25.9	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Treated patient with COVID-19
	No	N	215	58	273	0.210	1	0.647	0.025
	No	%	78.8	21.2	100.0
	Yes	N	47	4	51
	Yes	%	92.2	7.8	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Treated patient with symptoms during the treatment
	No	N	171	47	218	2.530	1	0.112	0.088
	No	%	78.4	21.6	100.0
	Yes	N	91	15	106
	Yes	%	85.8	14.2	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0
Treated patient with fever
	No	N	215	58	273	4.988	1	0.026	0.124
	No	%	78.8	21.2	100.0
	Yes	N	47	4	51
	Yes	%	92.2	7.8	100.0
	Total	N	262	62	324
	Total	%	80.9	19.1	100.0

Variable	B	S.E.	Wald	df	Sig.	Exp(B)	95% CI for EXP(B)
Variable	B	S.E.	Wald	df	Sig.	Exp(B)	Lower	Upper
Confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19	3.385	0.429	62.330	1	0.000	29.521	12.740	68.405
Confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 in household	0.900	0.396	5.172	1	0.023	2.460	1.132	5.342
Constant	−2.557	0.244	109.589	1	0.000	0.078

Variable	B	S.E.	Wald	df	Sig.	Exp(B)	95%CI for EXP(B)
Variable	B	S.E.	Wald	df	Sig.	Exp(B)	Lower	Upper
Presented Loss of taste or smell	1.655	0.779	4.517	1	0.034	5.235	1.137	24.089
Patient Presented Fever	−1.096	0.543	4.081	1	0.043	0.334	0.115	0.968
Constant	−1.368	0.152	80.495	1	0.000	0.255

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[1] Corresponding Author: Jaiane Augusta Medeiros Ribeiro. E-mail: jaiaugusta@gmail.com