Safety Evaluation of a Medical Congress Held During the COVID-19 Pandemic-A Prospective Cohort
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abstract
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, few scientific congresses have been
held on-site. We prospectively evaluated the safety concept of the
congress of the Swiss Societies of Infectious Diseases and Hospital
Hygiene. The congress was held in Geneva (Switzerland) while local
COVID-19 incidence (with SARS-CoV-2 wild type circulating) was
65/100,000 population (September 2020). A rigorous safety concept
was implemented. Congress attendees filled out a questionnaire to
assess risk perception, exposures, symptoms and diagnoses of
SARS-CoV-2 before, during and after the congress. Dried blood spots
were taken on-site and 4 weeks later to detect SARS-CoV-2
seroconversions. Of 365 congress attendees, 196 (54%) either
answered the questionnaire (N = 150) or provided baseline and
follow-up blood samples (N = 168). None of the participants reported
a positive PCR in the 2 weeks after the congress. Five of 168 (3%)
participants were seropositive at follow-up, all of which had
already been positive at baseline. Findings indicate that
congresses with a rigorous safety concept may take place, even in
areas with moderately-high COVID-19 activity. Whether this holds
true in vaccinated populations and with more transmissible viral
variants circulating remains unclear.
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citation
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Sumer J, Flury D, Kahlert C R, Mueller N J, Risch L, Nigg S,
Seneghini M, Vernazza P, Schlegel M, Kohler P. Safety Evaluation of
a Medical Congress Held During the COVID-19 Pandemic-A Prospective
Cohort. Int J Public Health 2022; 67:1604147.
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type
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journal paper/review (English)
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date of publishing
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16-02-2022
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journal title
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Int J Public Health (67)
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ISSN electronic
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1661-8564
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pages
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1604147
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PubMed
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35250429
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DOI
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10.3389/ijph.2022.1604147
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