Impact of social activity restriction and routine patient screening as a preventive measurement for tertiary referral hospital staff in a country with high COVID-19 incidence.
IJID Reg
; 2: 45-50, 2022 Mar.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1899799
ABSTRACT
Background:
Measuring COVID-19 incidence among hospital staff and the influencing factors and preventative measures affecting outcomes is important given their high risk of exposure and potential impacts on health service provision.Method:
Study participants included all hospital staff with COVID-19 confirmed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from March 2020 to July 2021. Data were collected on age, gender, occupation, working area, symptoms and vaccination status. We also collected data on pediatric oncology patients and their caregivers to review the hospital screening policy.Results:
Approximately 59% of positive cases among hospital staff occurred in the green zone; 75% were fully vaccinated. Whole-genome sequencing indicated that staff infections in June 2021 were Delta variant. A decrease in cases coincided with government implementation of social activity restriction. When RT-PCR was performed in suspected cases, 3 of 36 pediatric oncology patients and 10 staff tested positive. After routine screening, 8 of 121 patients, 3 patient caregivers, and 5 staff tested positive, all were asymptomatic, and all were infected in the community.Conclusions:
Routine testing for staff, patients and caregivers, vaccination booster programs, continuing education of health care workers, and government policy, such as social activity restriction, are needed to protect frontline workers.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Vaccines
/
Variants
Language:
English
Journal:
IJID Reg
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.ijregi.2021.11.007
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS