Schrödinger’s Worker: Are They Positive or Negative for SARS-CoV-2?

Federico Meloni, Marcello Campagna, Angelo Restivo and Pierluigi Cocco
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Federico Meloni: Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, Occupational Medicine Unit, University of Cagliari, SS 554, km 4.500, 09042 Monserrato (Cagliari), Italy
Marcello Campagna: Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, Occupational Medicine Unit, University of Cagliari, SS 554, km 4.500, 09042 Monserrato (Cagliari), Italy
Angelo Restivo: Department of Surgery, Colorectal Surgery Center, University of Cagliari, SS 554, km 4.500, 09042 Monserrato (Cagliari), Italy
Pierluigi Cocco: Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, Occupational Medicine Unit, University of Cagliari, SS 554, km 4.500, 09042 Monserrato (Cagliari), Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-4

Abstract: In these days of 2020, tests for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, and their use in the context of health surveillance of workers, are becoming popular. Nevertheless, their sensitivity and specificity could vary on the basis of the type of test used and on the moment of infection of the subject tested. The aim of this viewpoint paper is to make employers, workers, occupational physicians, and public health specialists think about the limits of diagnostic tests currently available, and the possible implication related to the erroneous and incautious assignment of “immunity passports” or “risk-free certificates” to workers during screening campaigns in workplaces.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; serologic tests; reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; sensitivity and specificity; Predictive value of tests; occupational health; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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