[COVID-19 Pandemic: Psychosocial impact among healthcare professionals in Tunisia]. / Pandémie COVID-19 : impact psychosocial sur le personnel de santé en Tunisie.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the psycho-affective impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of health professionals in Tunisia and to estimate the associated factors. METHODS: This is a multicenter, cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study of health professionals carried out from May 2, 2020 to June 30, 2020 in Tunisia. Healthcare professionals included doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists. The participants answered a pre-established questionnaire using an electronic "Google Form". This questionnaire gathered demographic data and medical history. It included two psychometric scales, the GAD-7 (General Anxiety Disorder-7) and the PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) to assess the prevalence and intensity of anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms respectively. RESULTS: The study included 203 healthcare professionals. The professionals had a mean age of 30.74±6.33years, 69.5 % were women, and the majority were doctors (77.8 %). Among professionals, 9.4 % were nurses, 7.4 % were dentists, and 5.4 % were pharmacists. A third of the participants 34.3 % worked in departments with Covid-19 patienfor having moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. CONCLUSION: In order to ensure better patient care, early detection of psychiatric disorders and the implementation of specific strategies to ensure better mental health among healthcare professionals are priorities not only during the current pandemic but also in the event of a future similar pandemic.

[Nasopharyngeal carriage of SARS-CoV-2 among health personnel with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 in a University Hospital in the Paris suburbs]. / Évaluation par RT-PCR du portage nasopharyngé du SARS-Cov-2 chez les personnels de santé symptomatiques suspects de COVID-19 dans un CHU de la banlieue parisienne.

INTRODUCTION: A consultation dedicated to symptomatic health professionals was opened at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic in order to meet the specific needs of this population. The objective of this work was to estimate the frequency of SARS-Cov-2 nasopharyngeal carriage in symptomatic healthcare workers suspected of having COVID-19 and to determine the factors associated with this carriage. METHODS: Of the 522 consultants, 308 worked in the Hospital and 214 outside. They had mild forms of COVID-19 and non-specific clinical signs with the exception of agueusia/anosmia, which was significantly more common in those with positive RT-PCR. The rate of RT-PCR positivity was 38% overall, without significant difference according to profession. It was higher among external consultants (47% versus 31%). In the hospital, this rate was significantly lower for symptomatic staff in the care sectors, compared to staff in the technical platforms and laboratories (24%, versus 45%, p = 0.006 and 54%, respectively, p < 0.001), but did not differ between staff in COVID units and other care sectors (30% versus 28%). Among the external consultants, the positivity rates of nursing home and private practices staff (53% and 55% respectively) were more than double that of acute care hospital staff (24%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These data confirm the strong impact of COVID-19 on health professionals. The higher positivity rates among symptomatic professionals working outside the hospital compared to those working in hospital may be explained in part by a shortage of protective equipment and by difficulties in accessing virological diagnosis, which were greater outside the hospital when the epidemic began.