Healthcare Workers Infection Rate in the Era of Coronavirus Disease 2019 - in Tertiary Teaching Hospital

Mona  Mohiedden; Aml M. Said; Ahmed M. Ali; Mohammed M. Abdel Razik; Maha Ali Gad

doi:10.3889/oamjms.2021.6584

Authors

Mona Mohiedden Department of Clinical and Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7852-3045
Aml M. Said Department of Clinical and Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Ahmed M. Ali Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Mohammed M. Abdel Razik Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Maha Ali Gad Department of Clinical and Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7717-6747

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2021.6584

Keywords:

Coronavirus disease 2019, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, Health-care workers, Hospital acquired infection

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at the frontline defense against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

AIM: The study aimed to describe the characteristics and appraise potential risk factors of COVID-19 transmission among HCWs who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in one of Cairo University Hospitals.

METHOD: Cross-sectional descriptive analysis of confirmed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive versus negative cases for COVID-19.

RESULTS: Through March–June 2020, (145/846; 17%) suspected HCWs were tested for COVID-19 by PCR; out of them (70/145; 48.3%) were confirmed as positive, these positive cases represented (70/846; 8.3%) of all HCWs of the hospital. About 33% of confirmed COVID-19 positive HCWs acquired the infection from the healthcare while only (13/70; 19%) from community settings, and no clear exposure data were identified in (34/70; 48%) of cases. Most of symptomatic cases showed a positive PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 versus asymptomatic cases, p < 0.001. There was no statistical significance regarding gender, age, presence of comorbidity, workload or the type of acquisition.

CONCLUSION: HCWs are at an increased risk of COVID-19 infection at the workplace. Strict implementation of infection control measures is of crucial role in preventing transmission of COVID-19 infection in health-care settings.

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