Context of SARS-COV- 2 contamination of health care workers in a Tunisian academic hospital

ABSTRACT

Background: Since the emergence of SARS-CoV- 2 in China, health care workers have been identified as being at risk of contracting Covid-19. Objective(s) To describe the exposure situations of healthcare workers affected by SARS-CoV- 2. Method(s) A questionnaire was established and filled in by healthcare workers practicing at the Sahloul University Hospital of Sousse-Tunisia, who were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the period from September 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. Data were collected on activity, type of tasks performed, wearing of protective equipment, and existence of possible contacts with cases (professional or extra-professional), in the 2 weeks preceding the date of symptom onset. Result(s) A total of 188/287 infected healthcare workers responded to the questionnaire. The gender and age distribution of the respondents showed a sex ratio of 0.34 and an average age of 41 years. Paramedical staff represented 63% of the participants. Among the infected caregivers, 16 (8.5%) had not worked during the 15 days preceding the symptoms. There were 69 (36.7%) professionals who worked in the Covid sector. The rate of use of a FFP2 mask for the most risky tasks varied greatly according to the sector of practice. Concerning hydro-alcoholic solutions, 58.5% of the workers stated that they had them as often as necessary. Other exposure situations outside of direct patient care were reported by these infected workers 20.4% reported at least one contact without a mask with one or more caregivers with a confirmed Covid-19 infection, and 32.4% reported contacts with suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection outside of their professional activity. Conclusion(s) The context of contamination of healthcare workers seems to be essentially professional. The nonuse of protective masks, particularly in non-COVID sectors, as well as the role of contamination between caregivers at their workplace seem to be important determinants of healthcare workers' contamination.