Respiratory surveillance wards as a strategy to reduce nosocomial transmission of COVID-19 through early detection: The experience of a tertiary-care hospital in Singapore.
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol
; 41(7): 820-825, 2020 Jul.
Artículo
en Inglés
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2096308
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Patients with COVID-19 may present with respiratory syndromes indistinguishable from those caused by common viruses. Early isolation and containment is challenging. Although screening all patients with respiratory symptoms for COVID-19 has been recommended, the practicality of such an effort has yet to be assessed.METHODS:
Over a 6-week period during a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, our institution introduced a "respiratory surveillance ward" (RSW) to segregate all patients with respiratory symptoms in designated areas, where appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) could be utilized until SARS-CoV-2 testing was done. Patients could be transferred when SARS-CoV-2 tests were negative on 2 consecutive occasions, 24 hours apart.RESULTS:
Over the study period, 1,178 patients were admitted to the RSWs. The mean length-of-stay (LOS) was 1.89 days (SD, 1.23). Among confirmed cases of pneumonia admitted to the RSW, 5 of 310 patients (1.61%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. This finding was comparable to the pickup rate from our isolation ward. In total, 126 HCWs were potentially exposed to these cases; however, only 3 (2.38%) required quarantine because most used appropriate PPE. In addition, 13 inpatients overlapped with the index cases during their stay in the RSW; of these 13 exposed inpatients, 1 patient subsequently developed COVID-19 after exposure. No patient-HCW transmission was detected despite intensive surveillance.CONCLUSIONS:
Our institution successfully utilized the strategy of an RSW over a 6-week period to contain a cluster of COVID-19 cases and to prevent patient-HCW transmission. However, this method was resource-intensive in terms of testing and bed capacity.
Texto completo:
Disponible
Colección:
Bases de datos internacionales
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Aislamiento de Pacientes
/
Neumonía Viral
/
Vigilancia de la Población
/
Infección Hospitalaria
/
Control de Infecciones
/
Transmisión de Enfermedad Infecciosa de Paciente a Profesional
/
Infecciones por Coronavirus
/
Enfermedades Profesionales
Tipo de estudio:
Estudios diagnósticos
/
Estudio observacional
/
Ensayo controlado aleatorizado
Límite:
Adulto
/
Anciano
/
Femenino
/
Humanos
/
Masculino
/
Middle aged
País/Región como asunto:
Asia
Idioma:
Inglés
Revista:
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol
Asunto de la revista:
Enfermedades Transmisibles
/
Enfemeria
/
Epidemiología
/
Hospitales
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Artículo
País de afiliación:
Ice.2020.207
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