Clinical characteristics of health care workers infected with COVID-19 at the Single-Center Hospital in Turkey

Abstract

Objectives: COVID-19 is a highly infectious disease characterized by different symptoms and varying severity from person to person. This study aims to identify the clinical characteristics of healthcare workers (HCWs) who have been infected with coronavirus and investigate which factors affect the disease’s severity. Materials and methods: In the presented study, 79 healthcare workers (HCWs) were recruited who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2, and working in a training and research hospital. Their data was examined in two groups as uncomplicated (without a computed tomography sign of pneumonia and respiratory rate < 24 per minute, SpO2 > 93% at room air) and pneumonia group in terms of the severity of the disease. The statistical analysis was performed by SPSS v.22.0 with a statistical significance of 0.05. Results: A total of 79 HCWs with a mean age of 33.37 ± 8.44 years were enrolled in the study. They consisted of 47 female and 32 male participants. There were 50 patients in uncomplicated and 29 patients in the pneumonia group. A total of 14 HCWs have been hospitalized with an average stay of 5.43 ± 1,5 days. The number of hospitalization between the groups was higher in the pneumonia group (n: 11) than in the uncomplicated group (n: 3) (38% vs. 6%; p < 0.001). HCWs who work in areas in close contact with the patient (high-risk units) were more prone to be in the pneumonia group than those working in the other areas of the hospital [22/45 (48%) vs. 7/27 (25%); p = 0.019]. There wasn’t any significant difference between the groups in terms of age, gender, occupation, and the presence of chronic illness of workers (p > 0.05). Sore throat and cough were the most common onset symptoms of the disease (34.2% and 31.6%, respectively). There was no difference between the groups in terms of biochemical parameters. (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Healthcare workers are in the risk group for COVID-19 disease. HCWs working in high-risk units are more vulnerable.