Abstract
Background and Objectives: Healthcare workers (HCWs) play important roles in mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic and are more likely to become infected with COVID-19. Mexico, among other countries, had a high incidence and prevalence of cases and deaths from this disease. Material and Methods: This retrospective study evaluated the clinical characteristics as well as the geographical distribution of cases, deaths, and active cases of COVID-19 in HCWs and non-HCWs using official information from the Ministry of Health of Mexico. Results: A total of 235,343 cases of COVID-19 were reported in healthcare workers, and 2,094,191 cases were reported in non-healthcare workers. A total of 76.0% of cases in healthcare workers occurred in those who were between 25 and 50 years of age, and 71.4% of deaths occurred in those who were 50 to 69 years of age. Among healthcare workers, the most frequent comorbidities were obesity (15.2%), hypertension (10.9%), and diabetes (6.8%). Nurses were the group with the most cases (39.7%), followed by other healthcare workers (30.6%), physicians (26%), and dentists (1.6%). Physicians were the group with the most deaths (46%), followed by other professionals (30%), nurses (19%), and dentists (3%). Conclusion: These findings are likely the result of healthcare workers in Mexico being at a greater risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
Highlights
In December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown etiology was identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, a disease that was later named “COVID-19” [1]
Since 28 February 2020, when the first case of COVID-19 was detected, until 26 April 2021, 2,329,534 cases had been reported in Mexico: 235,343 had been reported in Healthcare workers (HCWs), and 2,094,191 had been reported in non-healthcare workers
Based on the seventeen epidemiological special reports regarding the COVID-19 situation that were produced by the SSA published on 26 April 2021, a total of 44.4% of the cases in healthcare workers were concentrated in five states; specific data were only available for Mexico City (14.5%, n = 34,314) and the State of Mexico (12.3%, n = 29,900)
Summary
In December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown etiology was identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, a disease that was later named “COVID-19” [1]. The second segment comprises the health services that are provided by the clinics, health centers, and hospitals of the Ministry of Health (SSA, which is its acronym in Spanish) and the Health Institute for Welfare (INSABI), which are intended for the portion of the Mexican population who does not have social security coverage. It was this segment that was responsible for Mexico’s public health system response to the COVID-19 pandemic [5]. Conclusion: These findings are likely the result of healthcare workers in Mexico being at a greater risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2
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