PRECISE Study on Prevalence of Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in Irish Healthcare Workers

In October 2020, a national study called the PRECISE Study was launched to look at the prevalence of  COVID-19 antibodies in healthcare workers (HCW) in two hospitals - University Hospital Galway and St James’s Hospital Dublin. All staff currently working in these two hospitals were invited to have a blood test to determine the presence of antibodies produced after COVID-19 infection. The study was repeated in April 2021 in the same hospitals to evaluate changes in the number of infections 6-months later and to assess the response to vaccination in the meantime.

In the repeat study in April, over 5,000 HCW (56% of staff) across the two facilities participated and all roles in the hospitals were represented. This includes nurses, doctors, healthcare assistants (HCA), administration staff and general support staff.