ABSTRACT
Objective: In the early stages of any epidemic caused by new emerging pathogens healthcare personnel is subject to a great risk. Pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, proved to be no exception. Many healthcare workers died in the early stages of pandemic due to inadequate precautions and insufficient protection. It is essential to protect and maintain the safety of healthcare personnel for the confinement of pandemic as well as continuity of qualified healthcare services which is already under strain. Educating healthcare personnel on appropiate use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is as essential as procuring them. Material and Methods: A survey is conducted on 4927 healthcare personnel working solely with pediatric patients from 32 different centers. Education given on PPE usage were questioned and analyzed depending on age, sex, occupation and region. Results: Among four thousand nine hundred twelve healthcare personnel from 32 different centers 91% (n= 4457) received education on PPE usage. Of those who received education only 36% was given both theoretical and applied education. Although there was no differences among different occupation groups, receiving education depended on regions. Conclusion: It is essential to educate healthcare personnel appropiately nationwidely for the continuity of qualified healthcare services during the pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Objective: In the early stages of any epidemic caused by new emerging pathogens healthcare personnel is subject to a great risk. Pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, proved to be no exception. Many healthcare workers died in the early stages of pandemic due to inadequate precautions and insufficient protection. It is essential to protect and maintain the safety of healthcare personnel for the confinement of pandemic as well as continuity of qualified healthcare services which is already under strain. Educating healthcare personnel on appropiate use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is as essential as procuring them. Material and Methods: A survey is conducted on 4927 healthcare personnel working solely with pediatric patients from 32 different centers. Education given on PPE usage were questioned and analyzed depending on age, sex, occupation and region. Results: Among four thousand nine hundred twelve healthcare personnel from 32 different centers 91% (n=4457) received education on PPE usage. Of those who received education only 36% was given both theoretical and applied education. Although there was no differences among different occupation groups, receiving education depended on regions. Conclusion: It is essential to educate healthcare personnel appropiately nationwidely for the continuity of qualified healthcare services during the pandemic.
ABSTRACT
The new coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is rapidly spreading around the world and has been declared an outbreak by WHO. However, the effect of blood groups on COVID-19 infection and the severity of the disease is unclear. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between ABO blood group and susceptibility to COVID-19 infection and whether the blood group will be a biomarker for COVID-19 infection. Patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 between March and May 2020 were included in this study. In order to compare the blood groups of the patients with the healthy group, patients who had previously performed ABO blood group analysis in the blood bank between February and May 2020 were included as the control group. Demographic data, clinical data, underlying comorbidities, laboratory findings and clinical results (hospitalization, need for intensive care, mortality) were obtained from the electronic medical records. A total of 179 patients with confirmed COVID-19 and 5200 healthy control patients were included in the study. Patients with COVID-19 showed a distribution of 62.01% in group A,9.50% in group B, 8.94% in group AB and 19.55% in group O. In group A, length of stay in Intensive Care Unit was longer (10.42±11.61 days;p= 0.013). Compared to the blood groups of the healthy control group, COVID-19 patients had higher A blood group than the healthy group (62& vs.46.6%;p 0.001) and lesser of the O blood group (19.6% vs. 34.7%;p 0.001).Blood group A can be used as a predictive biomarker for COVID-19 disease.In addition, we concluded that the group A had a higher risk for COVID-19 disease and severity. © 2020, UHOD - Uluslararasi Hematoloji Onkoloji Dergisi. All rights reserved.