Abstract
Background and study aims:The health care workers at endoscopy units are at a high risk of COVID-19 infection. Several guidelines for COVID-19 infection control measures at endoscopy units are available. However, the knowledge and practice of endoscopists toward these measures are not evaluated. We aimed to assess the level of knowledge and practice of Egyptian gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopists for these measures. Patients and Method:An online questionnaire was filled by the GI endoscopists. It consisted of 4 sections; the demographic features of the participants, pre-endoscopic infection control measures, during endoscopy on COVID-19 patients measures and post-endoscopic measures. Each of the last 3 sections contained questions assessing the knowledge and practices of the endoscopists. The answers to some questions were set up as ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and the other questions required selecting the appropriate answer. Results: A total of 120 participants completed the questionnaire. About half had endoscopic experience between 5 and 10 years. The overall correct answers regarding the knowledge were 45.6% while 62.2% for the practice. Low percent of correct answers was related to the personal protective equipment (PPE) use. About 56.7% and 58.3% found their level of knowledge and practices to be fair, respectively. Conclusion: The knowledge of the infection control against COVID-19 was insufficient among GI endoscopists particularly PPE use. Meanwhile, the practice was relatively adequate due to hospital policies of strict application of infection control measures.
Highlights
The rapid spread of the novel SARS-COV-2 or COVID-19 virus has resulted in a global pandemic
The confirmation of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the stool of patients with COVID-19 [4], it is unclear if the viral concentration in the stool can be sufficient for the transmission of infection [3]
The health care professionals (HCP) are at high risk of COVID-19 infection
Summary
The rapid spread of the novel SARS-COV-2 or COVID-19 virus has resulted in a global pandemic. These receptors are highly expressed throughout the gastrointestinal tract at gastric, duodenal, and rectal mucosa These receptors act as potential viral entry receptors to the uninfected cells, and increase the possibility of fecal–oral transmission[3]. The confirmation of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the stool of patients with COVID-19 [4], it is unclear if the viral concentration in the stool can be sufficient for the transmission of infection [3]. We aimed to assess the level of knowledge and practice of Egyptian gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopists for these measures. Patients and Method:An online questionnaire was filled by the GI endoscopists It consisted of 4 sections; the demographic features of the participants, pre-endoscopic infection control measures, during endoscopy on COVID-19 patients measures and postendoscopic measures. The answers to some questions were set up as ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and the other questions required selecting the appropriate answer
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