Real-Time Remote Surveillance of Doffing During COVID-19 Pandemic: Enhancing Safety of Health Care Workers

Purpose Almost nine of 10 deaths resulting from cervical cancer occur in low-income countries. Visual inspection under acetic acid (VIA) is an evidence-based, cost-effective approach to cervical cancer screening (CCS), but challenges to effective implementation include health provider training costs, provider turnover, and skills retention. We hypothesized that a smartphone camera and use of cervical image transfer for real-time mentorship by experts located distantly across a closed user group through a commercially available smartphone application would be both feasible and effective in enhancing VIA skills among CCS providers in Tanzania. Methods We trained five nonphysician providers in semirural Tanzania to perform VIA enhanced by smartphone cervicography with real-time trainee support from regional experts. Deidentified images were sent through a free smartphone application on the available mobile telephone networks. Our primary outcomes were feasibility of using a smartphone camera to perform smartphone-enhanced VIA and level of agreement in diagnosis between the trainee and expert reviewer over time. Results Trainees screened 1,072 eligible women using our methodology. Within 1 month of training, the agreement rate between trainees and expert reviewers was 96.8%. Providers received a response from expert reviewers within 1 to 5 minutes 48.4% of the time, and more than 60% of the time, feedback was provided by regional expert reviewers in less than 10 minutes. Conclusion Our method was found to be feasible and effective in increasing health care workers’ skills and accuracy. This method holds promise for improved quality of VIA-based CCS programs among health care providers in low-income countries.

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Inter-rater reliability of the South African Triage Scale: Assessing two different cadres of health care workers in a real time environment

African Journal of Emergency Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.afjem.2011.08.003 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 113-118 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Michèle Twomey ◽

Angela de Sá ◽

Lee A. Wallis ◽

Jonathan E. Myers

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Real Time ◽

South African ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

The South ◽

Rater Reliability ◽

Care Workers

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Effect of electronic real-time prompting on hand hygiene behaviors in health care workers

American Journal of Infection Control ◽

10.1016/j.ajic.2017.12.018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 46 (7) ◽

pp. 768-774 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Steven Pong ◽

Pamela Holliday ◽

Geoff Fernie

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Hand Hygiene ◽

Real Time ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Care Workers

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Application of newly developed SARS-CoV2 serology test along with real-time PCR for early detection in health care workers and on-time plasma donation

Gene Reports ◽

10.1016/j.genrep.2021.101140 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 101140

Author(s):

Mohammad Sadegh Soltani-Zangbar ◽

Leili Aghebati-Maleki ◽

Mahsa Hajivalili ◽

Mostafa Haji-Fatahaliha ◽

Roza Motavalli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Early Detection ◽

Real Time ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Real Time Pcr ◽

Plasma Donation ◽

Care Workers ◽

Serology Test

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COVIDApp as an Innovative Strategy for the Management and Follow-Up of COVID-19 Cases in Long-Term Care Facilities in Catalonia: Implementation Study

JMIR Public Health and Surveillance ◽

10.2196/21163 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. e21163 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Patricia Echeverría ◽

Miquel Angel Mas Bergas ◽

Jordi Puig ◽

Mar Isnard ◽

Mireia Massot ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

High Risk ◽

Real Time ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Long Term Care ◽

Term Care ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Care Workers ◽

Care Facilities

Background The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented worldwide public health crisis that requires new management approaches. COVIDApp is a mobile app that was adapted for the management of institutionalized individuals in long-term care facilities. Objective The aim of this paper is to report the implementation of this innovative tool for the management of long-term care facility residents as a high-risk population, specifically for early identification and self-isolation of suspected cases, remote monitoring of mild cases, and real-time monitoring of the progression of the infection. Methods COVIDApp was implemented in 196 care centers in collaboration with 64 primary care teams. The following parameters of COVID-19 were reported daily: signs/symptoms; diagnosis by reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction; absence of symptoms for ≥14 days; total deaths; and number of health care workers isolated with suspected COVID-19. The number of at-risk centers was also described. Results Data were recorded from 10,347 institutionalized individuals and up to 4000 health care workers between April 1 and 30, 2020. A rapid increase in suspected cases was seen until day 6 but decreased during the last two weeks (from 1084 to 282 cases). The number of confirmed cases increased from 419 (day 6) to 1293 (day 22) and remained stable during the last week. Of the 10,347 institutionalized individuals, 5,090 (49,2%) remained asymptomatic for ≥14 days. A total of 854/10,347 deaths (8.3%) were reported; 383 of these deaths (44.8%) were suspected/confirmed cases. The number of isolated health care workers remained high over the 30 days, while the number of suspected cases decreased during the last 2 weeks. The number of high-risk long-term care facilities decreased from 19/196 (9.5%) to 3/196 (1.5%). Conclusions COVIDApp can help clinicians rapidly detect and remotely monitor suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19 among institutionalized individuals, thus limiting the risk of spreading the virus. The platform shows the progression of infection in real time and can aid in designing new monitoring strategies.

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Impact of Full Vaccination with mRNA BNT162b2 on SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Genomic and Subgenomic Viral RNAs Detection in Nasopharyngeal Swab and Saliva of Health Care Workers

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9081738 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 1738

Author(s):

Michela Deiana ◽

Antonio Mori ◽

Chiara Piubelli ◽

Francesca Perandin ◽

Davide Treggiari ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Real Time ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Nasopharyngeal Swab ◽

Rt Pcr ◽

Subgenomic Rna ◽

Viral Rnas ◽

Social Settings ◽

Care Workers

SARS-CoV-2 infection was monitored in 1898 health care workers (HCWs) after receiving full vaccination with BNT162b2. Untill 30 June 2021, 10 HCWs tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 using real time RT-PCR, resulting in a 4-month cumulative incidence of 0.005%. The infection was mildly symptomatic in six (60%) and asymptomatic in four (40%) individuals. Among the infected HCWs, eight consenting individuals provided paired NPS and saliva during the course of infection, for the purpose of the analysis performed in the present study. Genomic and subgenomic viral RNAs were investigated using real-time RT-PCR in both biological specimens. The temporal profile of viral load was measured using ddPCR. Viral mutations were also analysed. Subgenomic viral RNA was detected in 8/8 (100%) NPS and in 6/8 (75%) saliva specimens at the baseline. The expression of subgenomic RNA was observed for up to 7 days in 3/8 (38%) symptomatic cases. Moreover, concordance was observed between NPS and saliva in the detection of viral mutations, and both N501Y and 69/70del (associated with the B.1.1.7 variant) were detected in the majority 6/8 (75%) of subjects, while the K417T mutation (associated with the P.1-type variants) was detected in 2/8 (25%) individuals. Overall, our findings report a low frequency of infected HCWs after full vaccination. It is, therefore, important to monitor the vaccinees in order to identify asymptomatic infected individuals. Saliva can be a surrogate for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance, particularly in social settings such as hospitals.

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Use of the HoloLens2 Mixed Reality Headset for Protecting Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.24173 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Songxiang Liu ◽

Zhewei Ye ◽

Mao Xie ◽

Lin Lu ◽

Jiayao Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Real Time ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Mixed Reality ◽

Cross Infection ◽

Protective Measures ◽

Care Workers ◽

Real Time Image ◽

Innovative Work ◽

Time Image

UNSTRUCTURED Letters to Editor: Guy Martin did a very innovative work, using HoloLens2 Mixed Reality for auro Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic[1]. This study can effectively reduce exposure in time to harm for staff looking after COVID-19 patients, and an reduction in the amount of PPE used. However, there are several questions in this paper that need to be consulted by the author. First, how does the author achieve real-time image unification between the mixed reality guide end and the remote end. Second mixed reality in COVID - 19 patient ward patients need to wear in the process of the use of mixed reality glasses, however, people's glasses cornea is one way the spread of the virus[2], so the author is how to take protective measures to avoid cross infection and mixed reality glasses of disinfection care. Finally, it is not seen in Figure 1 of the article that the patient wears HoloLens glasses. How does the patient see the hologram. At this point, do the authors have information on these questions?

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Use of a Real-Time Locating System for Contact Tracing of Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic at an Infectious Disease Center in Singapore: Validation Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.19437 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Hanley J Ho ◽

Zoe Xiaozhu Zhang ◽

Zhilian Huang ◽

Aung Hein Aung ◽

Wei-Yen Lim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Infectious Disease ◽

Health Care ◽

Real Time ◽

Sensitivity And Specificity ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

Contact Tracing ◽

Staff Members ◽

Care Workers ◽

Locating System

BACKGROUND In early 2020, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged and spread by community and nosocomial transmission. Effective contact tracing of potentially exposed health care workers is crucial for the prevention and control of infectious disease outbreaks in the health care setting. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic through the real-time locating system (RTLS) and review of the electronic medical record (EMR) at the designated hospital for COVID-19 response in Singapore. METHODS Over a 2-day study period, all admitted patients with COVID-19, their ward locations, and the health care workers rostered to each ward were identified to determine the total number of potential contacts between patients with COVID-19 and health care workers. The numbers of staff-patient contacts determined by EMR reviews, RTLS-based contact tracing, and a combination of both methods were evaluated. The use of EMR-based and RTLS-based contact tracing methods was further validated by comparing their sensitivity and specificity against self-reported staff-patient contacts by health care workers. RESULTS Of 796 potential staff-patient contacts (between 17 patients and 162 staff members), 104 (13.1%) were identified by both the RTLS and EMR, 54 (6.8%) by the RTLS alone, and 99 (12.4%) by the EMR alone; 539 (67.7%) were not identified through either method. Compared to self-reported contacts, EMR reviews had a sensitivity of 47.2% and a specificity of 77.9%, while the RTLS had a sensitivity of 72.2% and a specificity of 87.7%. The highest sensitivity was obtained by including all contacts identified by either the RTLS or the EMR (sensitivity 77.8%, specificity 73.4%). CONCLUSIONS RTLS-based contact tracing showed higher sensitivity and specificity than EMR review. Integration of both methods provided the best performance for rapid contact tracing, although technical adjustments to the RTLS and increasing user compliance with wearing of RTLS tags remain necessary.

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