Police COVID-19 Serosurvey (PoliCOV)

November 17, 2025 updated by: University of Bern

Police Officer COVID-19 Seroprevalence Survey in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland

The investigators aim to determine the immune status of the employees of the cantonal police of Bern against SARS-CoV-2 over a period of 1 year, and to investigate the risk profile of the study participants and their risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in their working and private environments, as well as to evaluate the use of personal protective equipment at potential exposure instances.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

i) To determine the extent of infection with seroprevalence data in the special population of police officers of the canton Bern.

ii) To determine risk factors for infection by comparing the proportion of seropositivity (infected versus noninfected individuals). The investigators hypothesize that police officers with fieldwork activity will have a higher seroprevalence than will office and administration personnel. The investigators hypothesize that working in the city of Bern will be associated with a higher seroprevalence than will working in other geographic areas of the canton (i.e. rural area).

iii) To monitor COVID-19 antibody titres and neutralizing capacity over time and to associate them with reinfection rates and infection-free intervals in police officers after accidental contact with a proven COVID-19 case. The investigators hypothesize that in seropositive individuals, there will be a decreasing dynamic of antibody titres over the one-year study period, and hence, a decrease of neutralizing capacity.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

1024

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Switzerland
    • Canton of Bern
      • Bern, Canton of Bern, Switzerland, 3010
        • University of Bern, Institute for Infectious Diseases

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Employees of the cantonal police of Bern, Switzerland

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Police officers of the cantonal police of Bern volunteering to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Refusal or inability to give informed consent or contraindication to venepuncture.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Seroprevalence
Time Frame: One year
The variable of primary interest is COVID-19 seropositivity. This variable is measured at five time points over the one-year study period. The following baseline factors may have an influence on the primary endpoint and will be obtained: (i) pre-existing comorbidities, (ii) rural versus city distribution of working place, and (iii) office work versus field work.
One year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Risk profile assessment
Time Frame: One year
The investigators will assess the proportion of symptomatic and asymptomatic cases among seropositive participants. The investigators will calculate the attack rate in different subgroup. These include (i) study participants with health-related risk factors (age>50 and age>60 years, diabetes, arterial hypertension, cardiovascular disease, chronic pulmonary disease, immune-compromised status due to host diseases, medical treatment, cancer, obesity), (ii) activity-related subgroups (i.e. fieldwork vs office activity), (iii) geography-related subgroups (i.e. city vs rural areas). In follow-up visits, the antibody titers (i.e. dynamic) and the neutralization capacity will be assessed. Thereby, the investigators will determine the change in serum levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies over time in seropositive participants.
One year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Bern

Collaborators

Interregionale Blutspende SRK Bern

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Parham Sendi, MD, University of Bern

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 9, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 30, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

June 30, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 19, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 24, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

November 25, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

November 21, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 17, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2020-02650

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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