Abstract
Introduction: Health Care Workers (HCWs) are at a particular high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection due to direct and indirect exposure to COVID-19 patients and Aerosol-Generating Procedures (AGPs). The aim of the study was to assess the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCWs exposed to COVID-19 patients, to evaluate the adherence and effectiveness of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures, to describe the clinical presentation for SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCWs and to determine serological responses in HCWs. Methods: HCWs exposed to COVID-19 patients during the previous 14 days with a confirmed case status were recruited as cases; HCWs exposed to COVID-19 patients during the previous 14 days in the same ward without a suspected/probable/confirmed case status were recruited as controls. Serum samples were collected as soon as possible and after 21–28 days from all participants. Data were collected with a WHO standardized questionnaire as soon as possible and after 21–28 days. Results: All social, occupational and personal variables considered were not associated with an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Conclusions: Our study showed a high knowledge of IPC measures and very high PPE use among HCWs.
Highlights
Health Care Workers (HCWs) are at a particular high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection due to direct and indirect exposure to COVID-19 patients and Aerosol-Generating Procedures (AGPs)
The main objective of this nested case-control study was to assess the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCWs exposed to COVID-19 patients
– to evaluate the adherence and effectiveness of current COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures; – to describe the clinical presentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCWs; – to determine the serological responses in HCWs with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection following exposure to COVID-19 patients, and in HCWs exposed to COVID-19 patients but without SARS-CoV-2 infection
Summary
Health Care Workers (HCWs) are at a particular high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection due to direct and indirect exposure to COVID-19 patients and Aerosol-Generating Procedures (AGPs). Was severely hit by the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and, as of 5 January 2022, 6,566,947 people have been infected, with 138,045 total attributable deaths [2,3] and 150,492 infections (2.96%) affecting Health Care Workers (HCWs) [5]. HCWs represent the frontline response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and have a high risk of acquiring the infection, due to exposure to COVID-19 patients and AerosolGenerating Procedures (AGPs) [6,7,8,9,10]. The evidence regarding anesthesiologist/intensivists is inconclusive [11,12,13,14,15]
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