HSE decides to start a test to find out the spread of Covid-19 amongst healthcare workers.
The study focuses on the rates of previous virus attack or infections in healthcare workers of St James’s Hospital (SJH), Dublin and University Hospital Galway (GUH).
This will be a six-month process, where the staffs at each of the two hospitals will be invited to the hospital for a blood test to check whether they are having antibodies in them or not.
The collected data will later be compared for announcing the result.
The antibody test helps to identify that whether a person has coronavirus attack previously or not.
According to HSE National Clinical Director for Health Protection, Dr Lorraine Doherty this study looks forward to monitor and calculate the frequency of past infection in the health staffs of both SJH and GUH, which are situated in two different localities of the country.
She said that the test will help the health service better understand this new infection, including the risk factors relevant to healthcare workers. “…for example the areas they work in and the type of patient exposure they have, as well as factors such as their sex, age and living arrangements.”
She also believes that the study will bring out an average number amongst the health staffs who may have a certain degree of immunity to different viruses or diseases.
The study could also point out whether these people are at the state of any sort of risk related to the virus attack.
The test will help to identify the number of asymptomatic staffs who got exposed to the virus without their knowledge.
“While some staff may find out that there were antibodies to the Covid-19 virus found in their blood, staff will be advised that this does not mean that they have immunity to the virus and should continue to follow all of the HSE’s public health advice,” said Dr Niamh Allen the study’s primary investigator and Specialist Registrar in Infectious Diseases.