ABSTRACT
Background: COVID-19 was first reported in Egypt on 14 February 2020 and continues to be a major threat to public health. Aims: We studied the incidence of incidental positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) signs of COVID-19 in asymptomatic cancer patients and compared this with the number of reported COVID-19 cases during the same period. Methods: We included all cancer patients who underwent PET/CT at Misr Radiology Center, Cairo, between 2 May and 7 August 2020. Results: There were 479 patients who underwent PET/CT primarily for follow-up, and 66 (13.78%) of them showed radiological signs of COVID-19, with the peak incidence in weeks 7–8 of the study. This coincided and strongly correlated with the peak incidence of COVID-19 in Egypt (Pearson’s correlation coefficient test = 0.943). Conclusion: The incidence of incidental PET/CT signs of COVID-19 was in accordance with the officially reported incidence of COVID-19 in Egypt between 2 May and 7 August 2020. These results could be helpful for implementing and adjusting public health and social measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Neoplasms , Egypt , Betacoronavirus , Disease OutbreaksABSTRACT
COVID-19 patients, especially those with chronic medical illnesses (CMI), may use different coping strategies, to reduce their psychological distress while facing the COVID-19 infection. The aim was to compare anxiety, depression and coping styles between patients infected with COVID-19 disease with and without CMI during the peak of COVID-19 disease in Egypt. This is a cross sectional study, that included an online survey consisting of Arabic versions of General Health Questionnaire-12, Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMAS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Brief-COPE scale. Questionnaires were distributed to adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection during their quarantine in Egypt. One hundred ninety-nine patients responded to the survey, where 46.73% of them had CMI. Religion, emotional support, use of informational support and acceptance were the most used coping strategies by participants. Avoidant coping strategies were frequently used by divorced patients, home quarantined individuals, patients who developed COVID-19 related anxiety/depression and patients who didnt receive hydroxyl-chloroquine. Approach strategies were frequently used by patients with mild COVID-19. Understanding the used coping strategies has implications for how individuals might be helped to manage their illness during the current presentation and intervene with development of serious long-term mental health conditions.
ABSTRACT
In response to the COVID-19 epidemic, Egypt established a unique care model based on quarantine hospitals where only externally-referred confirmed COVID-19 patients were admitted, and healthcare workers resided continuously over 1-to 2-week working shifts. While the COVID-19 risk for HCWs has been widely reported in standard healthcare settings, it has not been evaluated yet in quarantine hospitals. Here, we relied on longitudinal data, including results of routine RT-PCR tests, collected within three quarantine hospitals located in Cairo and Fayoum, Egypt. Using a model-based approach that accounts for the time-since-exposure variation in false-negative rates of RT-PCR tests, we computed the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCWs. Over a total follow-up of 6,064 person-days (PD), we estimated an incidence rate (per 100 PD) of 1.05 (95% CrI: 0.58-1.65) at Hospital 1, 1.92 (95% CrI: 0.93-3.28) at Hospital 2 and 7.62 (95% CrI: 3.47-13.70) at Hospital 3. The probability for an HCW to be infected at the end of a shift was 13.7% (95% CrI: 7.8%-20.8%) and 23.8% (95% CrI: 12.2%-37.3%) for a 2-week shift at Hospital 1 and Hospital 2, respectively, which lies within the range of risk levels previously documented in standard healthcare settings, whereas it was >3-fold higher for a 7-day shift at Hospital 2 (42.6%, 95%CrI: 21.9%-64.4%). Our model-based estimates unveil a proportion of undiagnosed infections among HCWs of 46.4% (95% CrI: 18.8%-66.7%), 45.0% (95% CrI: 5.6%-70.8%) and 59.2% (95% CrI: 34.8%-78.8%), for Hospitals 1 to 3, respectively. The large variation in SARS-CoV-2 incidence we document here suggests that HCWs from quarantine hospitals may face a high occupational risk of infection, but that, with sufficient anticipation and infection control measures, this risk can be brought down to levels similar to those observed in standard healthcare settings. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDSO_ST_ABSWhat is already known on this topicC_ST_ABSPrevious studies conducted in standard care settings have documented that frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) face high risk of COVID-19. Whether risk levels differ in alternative care models, such as COVID-19 quarantine hospitals in Egypt where HCWs resided in the hospital days and nights for various durations, is unknown. What this study addsCOVID-19 risk for HCWs in quarantine hospitals varies substantially between facilities, from risk levels that are in the range of those documented in standard healthcare settings to levels that were approximatively 3 times higher. How this study might affect research, practice or policyWith sufficient anticipation and infection control measures, occupational COVID-19 risk for HCWs working in quarantine hospitals can be brought down to levels similar to those observed in standard healthcare settings.
