The Surgeon’s Risk of SARS-CoV-2 Infection During the Initial Peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic in New Orleans

Surgeons who care for patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection represent a unique population of health care providers whose risk of infection has not been elucidated. The objective of this study was to examine SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among surgeons who cared for patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to other employees within our health care system and also the general public of New Orleans. 105 surgeons at our facilities provided direct surgical care to patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection and underwent voluntary antibody testing. 2/105 (1.9% CI .2%-6.7%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. 13 343 hospital employees underwent antibody testing and 1066/13 343 (8.0% CI 7.5%-8.5%) tested positive (1.9% vs. 8.0%; P = .03). We saw a significantly lower SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among surgeons who directly cared for infected patients versus other hospital employees. When compared to community seroprevalence (6.9% CI 6.0%-8.0%), seroprevalence among our surgeons is also significantly lower (1.9% vs. 6.9%; P = .04).