TY - JOUR T1 - Screening of healthcare workers for SARS-CoV-2 highlights the role of asymptomatic carriage in COVID-19 transmission. AU - Rivett,Lucy, AU - Sridhar,Sushmita, AU - Sparkes,Dominic, AU - Routledge,Matthew, AU - Jones,Nick K, AU - Forrest,Sally, AU - Young,Jamie, AU - Pereira-Dias,Joana, AU - Hamilton,William L, AU - Ferris,Mark, AU - Torok,M Estee, AU - Meredith,Luke, AU - ,, AU - Gupta,Ravi, AU - Lyons,Paul A, AU - Toshner,Mark, AU - Warne,Ben, AU - Bartholdson Scott,Josefin, AU - Cormie,Claire, AU - Gill,Harmeet, AU - Kean,Iain, AU - Maes,Mailis, AU - Reynolds,Nicola, AU - Wantoch,Michelle, AU - Caddy,Sarah, AU - Caller,Laura, AU - Feltwell,Theresa, AU - Hall,Grant, AU - Hosmillo,Myra, AU - Houldcroft,Charlotte, AU - Jahun,Aminu, AU - Khokhar,Fahad, AU - Yakovleva,Anna, AU - Butcher,Helen, AU - Caputo,Daniela, AU - Clapham-Riley,Debra, AU - Dolling,Helen, AU - Furlong,Anita, AU - Graves,Barbara, AU - Gresley,Emma Le, AU - Kingston,Nathalie, AU - Papadia,Sofia, AU - Stark,Hannah, AU - Stirrups,Kathleen E, AU - Webster,Jennifer, AU - Calder,Joanna, AU - Harris,Julie, AU - Hewitt,Sarah, AU - Kennet,Jane, AU - Meadows,Anne, AU - Rastall,Rebecca, AU - Brien,Criona O, AU - Price,Jo, AU - Publico,Cherry, AU - Rowlands,Jane, AU - Ruffolo,Valentina, AU - Tordesillas,Hugo, AU - Brookes,Karen, AU - Canna,Laura, AU - Cruz,Isabel, AU - Dempsey,Katie, AU - Elmer,Anne, AU - Escoffery,Naidine, AU - Jones,Heather, AU - Ribeiro,Carla, AU - Saunders,Caroline, AU - Wright,Angela, AU - Nyagumbo,Rutendo, AU - Roberts,Anne, AU - Bucke,Ashlea, AU - Hargreaves,Simone, AU - Johnson,Danielle, AU - Narcorda,Aileen, AU - Read,Debbie, AU - Sparke,Christian, AU - Warboys,Lucy, AU - Lagadu,Kirsty, AU - Mactavous,Lenette, AU - Gould,Tim, AU - Raine,Tim, AU - Mather,Claire, AU - Ramenatte,Nicola, AU - Vallier,Anne-Laure, AU - Kasanicki,Mary, AU - Eames,Penelope-Jane, AU - McNicholas,Chris, AU - Thake,Lisa, AU - Bartholomew,Neil, AU - Brown,Nick, AU - Parmar,Surendra, AU - Zhang,Hongyi, AU - Bowring,Ailsa, AU - Martell,Geraldine, AU - Quinnell,Natalie, AU - Wright,Jo, AU - Murphy,Helen, AU - Dunmore,Benjamin J, AU - Legchenko,Ekaterina, AU - Gräf,Stefan, AU - Huang,Christopher, AU - Hodgson,Josh, AU - Hunter,Kelvin, AU - Martin,Jennifer, AU - Mescia,Federica, AU - O'Donnell,Ciara, AU - Pointon,Linda, AU - Shih,Joy, AU - Sutcliffe,Rachel, AU - Tilly,Tobias, AU - Tong,Zhen, AU - Treacy,Carmen, AU - Wood,Jennifer, AU - Bergamaschi,Laura, AU - Betancourt,Ariana, AU - Bowyer,Georgie, AU - De Sa,Aloka, AU - Epping,Maddie, AU - Hinch,Andrew, AU - Huhn,Oisin, AU - Jarvis,Isobel, AU - Lewis,Daniel, AU - Marsden,Joe, AU - McCallum,Simon, AU - Nice,Francescsa, AU - Curran,Martin D, AU - Fuller,Stewart, AU - Chaudhry,Afzal, AU - Shaw,Ashley, AU - Samworth,Richard J, AU - Bradley,John R, AU - Dougan,Gordon, AU - Smith,Kenneth Gc, AU - Lehner,Paul J, AU - Matheson,Nicholas J, AU - Wright,Giles, AU - Goodfellow,Ian G, AU - Baker,Stephen, AU - Weekes,Michael P, Y1 - 2020/05/11/ PY - 2020/05/08/received PY - 2020/05/10/accepted PY - 2020/5/12/pubmed PY - 2020/7/1/medline PY - 2020/5/12/entrez KW - COVID-19 KW - SARS-CoV-2 KW - emerging pathogens KW - epidemiology KW - global health KW - human KW - human biology KW - infectious disease KW - medicine KW - occupational health KW - virology KW - virus JF - eLife JO - Elife VL - 9 N2 - Significant differences exist in the availability of healthcare worker (HCW) SARS-CoV-2 testing between countries, and existing programmes focus on screening symptomatic rather than asymptomatic staff. Over a 3 week period (April 2020), 1032 asymptomatic HCWs were screened for SARS-CoV-2 in a large UK teaching hospital. Symptomatic staff and symptomatic household contacts were additionally tested. Real-time RT-PCR was used to detect viral RNA from a throat+nose self-swab. 3% of HCWs in the asymptomatic screening group tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. 17/30 (57%) were truly asymptomatic/pauci-symptomatic. 12/30 (40%) had experienced symptoms compatible with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)>7 days prior to testing, most self-isolating, returning well. Clusters of HCW infection were discovered on two independent wards. Viral genome sequencing showed that the majority of HCWs had the dominant lineage B∙1. Our data demonstrates the utility of comprehensive screening of HCWs with minimal or no symptoms. This approach will be critical for protecting patients and hospital staff. SN - 2050-084X UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/32392129/Screening_of_healthcare_workers_for_SARS_CoV_2_highlights_the_role_of_asymptomatic_carriage_in_COVID_19_transmission_ L2 - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.58728 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -