One in six maternity workers infected

Calls for better safeguards as study reveals many staff were found to have had virus without realising it

MATERNITY staff should receive regular tests, scientists say, as a study claims one in six has contracted the virus, with a third of cases asymptomatic.

The fact that so many showed no signs of having caught the virus allowed them to go about the wards as usual, potentially passing it to mothers and babies, the University College London scientists warned.

Published in the journal Anaesthesia, the study examined infection rates among staff in maternity units at two London hospitals.

In total, 200 anaesthetists, midwives and obstetricians from University College London Hospital and St George’s Hospital, with no previously confirmed diagnosis of Covid-19, were given antibody tests, which show whether or not a person has previously been infected. Of these, 29 were found to have previously been infected. Only six of these had a fever and 10 recalled having a cough while 15 suffered anosmia – a loss of sense of taste or smell – and 10 had no symptoms whatsoever.

Among all of those who were found to have previously been infected, 59 per cent had not self-isolated at any point and had continued to provide care to patients.

The authors wrote: “This has significant implications for the risk of occupational transmission of SARS-COV-2 for both staff and patients in maternity units. Regular testing of staff, including asymptomatic staff, should be considered to reduce transmission risk.”

They added: “Until we have robust evidence as to the risk posed by asymptomatic infected individuals to others, and as to the risk of Covid-19 to babies, particularly during pregnancy, our study suggests that extreme caution is advisable in maternity settings, particularly the consistent use of effective personal protective equipment and other known effective measures including social distancing of staff and the regular washing of hands. We also recommend that all obstetric healthcare institutions should consider regular serology testing for staff, as well as the immediate isolation of any staff who lose their sense of taste and smell, even in the absence of cough or fever.”

At the beginning of the pandemic, the Government advised all those with a persistent cough or fever above 38.8C to self-isolate.

The new study showed that only 41.4 per cent of healthcare workers who tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies met those criteria and self-isolated at any point. The data showed that in this population, neither cough nor fever predicted signs of previous infection, and that the only symptom of a positive test was loss of taste and smell.

The Government has since added this symptom to the list that mandate self-isolation. “Regular testing and consistent use of PPE are likely to be the cornerstones of pandemic control,” the authors conclude.

UCL is now embarking on a study of 6,000 pregnant women in an effort to establish whether Covid-19 increases the chance of miscarriage.