title: Prevalence of subclinical infection by the SARS coronavirus among general practitioners in Hong Kong.
abstract: Eight general practitioners had severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong during the epidemic, and others may have been infected by the SARS coronavirus without developing the full syndrome. We conducted a serological and questionnaire survey to determine the prevalence of subclinical infection by SARS coronavirus among general practitioners in Hong Kong. Participants had to be doctors actively practising in family medicine and who did not have SARS. Approximately 3200 general practitioners were invited to participate and the results of 574 were eligible for analysis. 29 samples were tested positive by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, but all these samples had titre < 25 by immunoflorescence assay. The prevalence for seropositivity was thus 0% (95% CI, 0.0%-0.6%). This finding documents the lack of subclinical infection by SARS coronavirus in an at-risk group in the community.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China. yuwc@ha.org.hk
authors.forename: Wai Cho
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Thomas Ho Fai
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.forename: Wing Lok
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Tak Keung
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Wilina
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Henry Chiu Fat
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Yeung
authors.forename: Wing Kin
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: To
authors.forename: Bosco
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Dominic Ngai Chong
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.forename: Thomas Ock Ling
authors.initials: TO
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Sik To
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Kwok Lung
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Tong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010821:Physicians, Family; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral