Laura Pereckaitė

Ms. Laura Pereckaitė


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

View All Publications
6 February 2021 in Medicina
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
LPLaura Pereckaitė
Laura Pereckaitė
ADAsta Dambrauskiene
Asta Dambrauskiene
DUDaiva Urboniene
Daiva Urboniene
SAULIUS SADAUSKASSAULIUS SADAUSKAS
SAULIUS SADAUSKAS
KPKestutis Petrikonis
Kestutis Petrikonis
Astra VitkauskieneAstra Vitkauskiene
Astra Vitkauskiene
Background and objective: Serologic testing is a useful additional method for the diagnosis of COVID-19. It is also used for population-based seroepidemiological studies. The objective of the study was to determine SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in healthcare workers of Kaunas hospitals and to compare two methods for specific SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing. Materials and Methods: A total of 432 healthcare workers in Kaunas hospitals were enrolled in this study. Each participant filled a questionnaire including questions about their demographics, contact with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, acute respiratory symptoms, and whether they contacted their general practitioner, could not come to work, or had to be hospitalized. Capillary blood was used to test for SARS-CoV-2 specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) a lateral flow immunoassay. Serum samples were used to test for specific IgG and IgA class immunoglobulins using semiquantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Results: 24.77% of study participants had direct contact with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19. A total of 64.81% of studied individuals had at least one symptom representing acute respiratory infection, compatible with COVID-19. Lateral flow immunoassay detected SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG class immunoglobulins in 1.16% of the tested group. Fever, cough, dyspnea, nausea, diarrhea, headache, conjunctivitis, muscle pain, and loss of smell and taste predominated in the anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG-positive group. Using ELISA, specific IgG were detected in 1.32% of the tested samples. Diarrhea, loss of appetite, and loss of smell and taste sensations were the most predominant symptoms in anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG-positive group. The positive percent agreement of the two testing methods was 50%, and negative percent agreement was 99.66%. Conclusions: 1.16% of tested healthcare workers of Kaunas hospitals were anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG-positive. The negative percent agreement of the lateral flow immunoassay and ELISA exceeded 99%.