Using Serologic Testing to Assess the Effectiveness of Outbreak Control Efforts, Serial Polymerase Chain Reaction Testing, and Cohorting of Positive Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Patients in a Skilled Nursing Facility

Amy V Dora; Alexander Winnett; Jennifer A Fulcher; Linda Sohn; Feliza Calub; Ian Lee-Chang; Elham Ghadishah; William A Schwartzman; David O Beenhouwer; John Vallone; Christopher J Graber; Matthew Bidwell Goetz; Debika Bhattacharya

doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa1286

Using Serologic Testing to Assess the Effectiveness of Outbreak Control Efforts, Serial Polymerase Chain Reaction Testing, and Cohorting of Positive Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Patients in a Skilled Nursing Facility

Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Aug 2;73(3):545-548. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1286.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
² Division of Infectious Disease, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, USA.
³ Division of Geriatrics and Extended Care, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, USA.
⁴ Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Abstract

We characterized serology following a nursing home outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) where residents were serially tested by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and positive residents were cohorted. When tested 46-76 days later, 24 of 26 RT-PCR-positive residents were seropositive; none of the 124 RT-PCR-negative residents had confirmed seropositivity, supporting serial SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing and cohorting in nursing homes.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2 serology; infection control; long-term care facility.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Disease Outbreaks
Humans
Polymerase Chain Reaction
SARS-CoV-2*
Skilled Nursing Facilities