Effectiveness of personal protective equipment in preventing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection among healthcare workers.
J Infect Chemother
; 27(1): 120-122, 2021 Jan.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-753273
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Information on the effectiveness of personal protective equipment (PPE) for preventing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among healthcare workers (HCWs), especially among HCWs with frequent contact with patients with SARS-CoV-2, is limited.METHODS:
We conducted a prospective cohort study on 49 HCWs who worked in close contact with patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. HCWs had blood samples taken every 2 weeks to test for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using two different types of assay.RESULTS:
Forty-nine participants (31 nurses, 15 doctors, 3 other workers) were enrolled. In total, 112 blood samples are obtained from participants. The median work days in 2 weeks was 9 (interquartile range (IQR) 5-10) days. In a single work day, 30 of the 49 participants (61.5%) had contact with patients with suspected or conformed SARS-CoV-2 at least 8 times, and approximately 60% of participants had more than 10 min of contact with a single patient. The median self-reported compliance to PPE was 90% (IQR 80-100%). Seven participants tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibody using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); however, none were seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody, so the positive ELISA results were assumed to be false-positive.CONCLUSIONS:
The study provides evidence that appropriate PPE is sufficient to prevent infection amongHCWs. It is necessary to establish a system that provides a stable supply of PPE for HCWs to perform their duties.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Health Personnel
/
Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Pandemics
/
Personal Protective Equipment
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Language:
English
Journal:
J Infect Chemother
Journal subject:
Microbiology
/
Drug Therapy
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS