1. SARS-CoV-2 infection among asymptomatic healthcare workers of the emergency department in a tertiary care facility
- Author
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Hedy A. Badary, Sherief Musa, Tarek Elnagdy, Moushira Hosny Ezzelarab, Hala Talaat, Yasmine Gaber, Shereen Shawky, Khaled Amer, Wael Abdo Hassan, Rabab Fouad, Ahmed Ali, Omnia Tantawi, Reham Abdelmoniem, and Abdel Meguid Kassem
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Male ,health care facilities, manpower, and services ,viruses ,Prevalence ,Serology ,Hospitals, University ,0302 clinical medicine ,COVID-19 Testing ,HCWs, Heathcare workers ,Health care ,Pandemic ,Infection control ,030212 general & internal medicine ,skin and connective tissue diseases ,UTM, Universal Transport Media ,COVID-19, Coronavirus disease 2019 ,Transmission (medicine) ,Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ,Incidence ,virus diseases ,Middle Aged ,Infectious Diseases ,HCWs ,Egypt ,Female ,medicine.symptom ,Emergency Service, Hospital ,Adult ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Health Personnel ,education ,030106 microbiology ,Asymptomatic ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,RST, Rapid serological test ,SARS-CoV-2, Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 ,Virology ,medicine ,Humans ,PPE, Personal protective equipment ,Pandemics ,Infection Control ,business.industry ,Tertiary Healthcare ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Emergency department ,fungi ,EDs, Emergency departments ,COVID-19 ,RT-PCR, Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction ,NPS, Nasopharyngeal swab ,respiratory tract diseases ,body regions ,Emergency medicine ,Asymptomatic Diseases ,business - Abstract
Highlights • SARS-CoV-2 was found in 14.3 % of healthcare workers in emergency department. • Rapid serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 can increase the diagnostic yield. • Screening of asymptomatic healthcare workers for SARS-CoV-2 is advised. • Infection control among transportation and cleaning staff should be stressed., Background Healthcare workers (HCWs) represent a high-risk category during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic crisis, with frontline HCWs at emergency departments (EDs) may be at an even higher risk. Determining the spread of infection among HCWs may have implications for infection control policies in hospitals. This study aimed to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among asymptomatic HCWs of the ED of a large tertiary center in Cairo, Egypt. Methods The study was conducted from June 1st to June 14th, 2020. All the recommended national and international indications on infection control measures were followed. Two hundred and three HCWs were included in the study and tested by nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) and rapid serological test (RST). Descriptive statistical analyses were used to summarize the data. Results Of the 203 HCWs, 29 (14.3 %) tested positive by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Thirty-seven (18.2 %) HCWs tested positive with RST: 20 with both IgM and IgG; 14 with IgM only, and 3 with IgG only. Age, gender, and/or occupation were not risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Conclusions Point prevalence of COVID-19 in asymptomatic HCWs in ED of tertiary care facility is 14.3 % by RT-PCR. This illustrates the importance of screening all HCWs regardless of symptoms, and the need for strict measures in securing HCWs to reduce transmission from healthcare facilities to the community during the current pandemic.
- Published
- 2020