AUTHOR=Ortiz-Prado Esteban , Andrade Felipe , Vasconez Eduardo , Escobar-Espinosa Cristina , Vallejo-Janeta Alexander Paolo , Freire-Paspuel Byron , Coronel Barbara , Galvis Heberson , Morales-Jadan Diana , Rivera-Olivero Ismar A. , Lozada Tannya , Henriquez-Trujillo Aquiles R. , Garcia-Bereguiain Miguel Angel ,  the UDLA-COVID-19 Team , Jaramillo Tatiana , Gordon Daniela Santander , Iturralde Gabriel Alfredo , Teran Julio Alejandro , Vasquez Karen Marcela , Rondal Jonathan Dario , Granda Genoveva , Santamaria Ana Cecilia , Pino Cynthia Lorena , Espinosa Oscar Lenin , Buitron Angie , Grisales David Sanchez , Jimenez Karina Beatriz , Bastidas Vanessa , Aguilar Dayana Marcela , Paredes Ines Maria , Bilvao Christian David , Paredes-Espinosa Maria Belen , Rodriguez Angel S. , Laglaguano Juan Carlos , Herrera Henry , Espinosa Pablo Marcelo , Galarraga Edison Andres , Zambrano-Mila Marlon Steven , Tito Ana Maria , Zapata Nelson David 

TITLE=High SARS-CoV-2 Infection Rates Among Special Forces Police Units During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ecuador

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.735821

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2021.735821

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, health workers and first-responders, such as police officers, were in charge of trying to contain a disease that was unknown at that time. The lack of information and the tremendous need to contain new outbreaks put police officers at higher risk.</p></sec><sec><title>Methodology</title><p>A cross-sectional study was conducted to describe SARS-CoV-2 infection rates among Police Special Forces Officers in Quito, Ecuador. In this study, 163 community-dwelling police officers from elite divisions voluntarily participated in our SARS-CoV-2 detection program using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR).</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>A total of 20 out of 163 police officers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, yielding an infection rate of 12.3%. Within this cohort, 10% (2/20) of SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals were potentially super spreaders with viral loads over 10<sup>8</sup> copies/ul. About 85% of the SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals were asymptomatic and 15% reported mild symptoms related to COVID-19.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>We found a high SARS-CoV-2 infection rate within the special forces police officers that, beyond a high health risk for themselves, their families, and coworkers. Our results point out the need for permanent SARS-CoV-2 testing among asymptomatic essential workers and first-responders to avoid local outbreaks and to prevent work-place absenteeism among police special units.</p></sec>