Nosocomial transmission and outbreaks of coronavirus disease 2019: the need to protect both patients and healthcare workers.
Antimicrob Resist Infect Control
; 10(1): 7, 2021 01 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1060156
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To compile current published reports on nosocomial outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), evaluate the role of healthcare workers (HCWs) in transmission, and evaluate outbreak management practices.METHODS:
Narrative literature review. SHORTCONCLUSION:
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has placed a large burden on hospitals and healthcare providers worldwide, which increases the risk of nosocomial transmission and outbreaks to "non-COVID" patients or residents, who represent the highest-risk population in terms of mortality, as well as HCWs. To date, there are several reports on nosocomial outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2, and although the attack rate is variable, it can be as high as 60%, with high mortality. There is currently little evidence on transmission dynamics, particularly using genomic sequencing, and the role of HCWs in initiating or amplifying nosocomial outbreaks is not elucidated. There has been a paradigm shift in management practices of viral respiratory outbreaks, that includes widespread testing of patients (or residents) and HCWs, including asymptomatic individuals. These expanded testing criteria appear to be crucial in identifying and controlling outbreaks.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Cross Infection
/
Disease Outbreaks
/
Health Personnel
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
/
Reviews
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Antimicrob Resist Infect Control
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S13756-020-00875-7
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