scholarly journals Annoying Skin Reaction Among The Medical Staff Using Personal Protective Equipment During COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thamir Alkubaisi

Abstract Backgrounds: the medical staff remains liable to COVID-19. Healthcare institutions must give offer to the supply of "personal protective equipment" to them, with the prolonged contact with this equipment that may cause a variety of skin diseases.Purpose: To shed light on the cutaneous abnormal reactions to the "personal protective equipment" among the medical staff and offers solutions.Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted for the medical staff that involved doctors, dentists, pharmacists, and nurses in the high-risk Ramadi General Teaching Hospital and low-risk Private Clinics, between 4-10 July 2020, at the time after the rise in COVID-19 patients in Anbar governorate, Iraq. A thorough quantitative descriptive research included age, gender, the duration and type of used masks, gloves, Goggles/face shield, and/or gown. About 23 questions described the adverse skin reactions chiefly that involve the skin. Results: A total of 196 participants were recruited for the online questionnaire, including (49.5%) doctor, (15.3%) dentist, (16.8%) pharmacist, and (18.4%) nurse, with a significant involvement between 20-29 years old age. The use of the mask and glove were associated significantly with an adverse skin reaction, like a wound, dry lips, Acne and/or folliculitis, hand dryness, erythema, itching, wrinkle, nail fracture. While workers who regularly used gowns had a negative correlation with adverse skin reactions including erythema with pruritus of trunk and shoulders, miliaria, and pityriasis versicolor. Goggles/face shield did not report adverse skin problems,Conclusions: The medical staff uses personal protective equipment that may develop mild dermatological adverse effects. It needs early diagnosis and treatment. There is dermatological advice that may be helpful to avoid these unwanted effects.

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has attracted global attention as it has expeditiously spread. Therefore, adherence to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has become a daily necessity, particularly among front-line personnel. However, PPE is associated with some adverse skin reactions; hence, this study aimed to investigate the characteristics and prevalence of adverse skin reactions from PPE usage. Methods: This cross-sectional study with a random sample was carried out at Bahrain Defense Force Hospital (BDF) from January to March 2021, targeting the front-line personnel. An online questionnaire was sent regarding adverse skin reactions from PPE. A total of 145 healthcare workers (HCWs) were approached, and 132 (91%) responded. The results were analyzed through SPSS 21.0 software, and the Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test was used to analyze discrete variables. Results: A total of 100 (75.8%) respondents suffered from adverse skin reactions. The most common findings were skin dryness, 100 (75.8%); itchiness, 67 (50.8%); and acne, 48 (36.4%). The most affected distant site was hands, 92 (69.7%). Female gender was significantly associated with skin changes, and only 22 (22%) participants with adverse skin reactions took medical advice. Conclusion: Adverse skin reactions from PPE were common. Therefore, improving awareness of practical methods is quintessential. Keywords: COVID-19; Eczema; Hand Hygiene; Masks; Skin Care


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadia Biswas Mumu ◽  
Most Nasrin Aktar ◽  
Zabun Nahar ◽  
Shahana Sharmin ◽  
Md Shaki Mostaid

Objective: COVID-19 has emerged as a pandemic and during the first week of May Bangladesh has reported more than 10,000 cases. A lack of awareness and poor understanding of the disease may result in rapid transmission of the disease in Bangladesh. This study aimed to investigate the awareness, perception, and attitude towards COVID-19 among Bangladeshi medical doctors. Method: This cross sectional, web-based study was conducted with the help of an online questionnaire and sent to the doctors which comprised of a series of questions regarding demographics of the participants, symptoms and incubation period of COVID-19, mode of transmission, measures to prevent transmission, availability of training and personal protective equipment in Bangladeshi hospitals, and attitude of doctors towards the treatment of suspected patients with COVID-19. Results: Of 800 medical doctors, a total 545 completed the survey (response 68.13%). Among the participants, 52.3% were females, 72.8% were below 30 years of age, and majority (52.8%) were working outside the cities in the villages and rural areas. A total of 404 (74.1%) doctors reported the correct incubation period of COVID-19. Majority doctors were aware of the symptoms with mode of transmission of COVID-19, measures to prevent hospital transmission, along with ways of identifying suspected patients with COVID-19. However, more than 90% of the doctors reported of inadequate intensive care unit and ventilator facilities along with extreme scarcity of personal protective equipment in the hospitals. 65.7% doctors prefer avoid working with a COVID-19 patient and more than 50% doctors have expressed that they would send the suspected COVID-19 patients to designated hospitals without providing treatment. Conclusion: The health authorities should take appropriate training measures to increase the awareness of the medical doctors along with providing sufficient amount of personal protective equipment for the medical doctors and supporting staff before deploying them in hospitals.


2021 ◽  
pp. 175717742110127
Author(s):  
Salma Abbas ◽  
Faisal Sultan

Background: Patient and staff safety at healthcare facilities during outbreaks hinges on a prompt infection prevention and control response. Physicians leading these programmes have encountered numerous obstacles during the pandemic. Aim/objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate infection prevention and control practices and explore the challenges in Pakistan during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study and administered a survey to physicians leading infection prevention and control programmes at 18 hospitals in Pakistan. Results: All participants implemented universal masking, limited the intake of patients and designated separate triage areas, wards and intensive care units for coronavirus disease 2019 patients at their hospitals. Eleven (61%) physicians reported personal protective equipment shortages. Staff at three (17%) hospitals worked without the appropriate personal protective equipment due to limited supplies. All participants felt overworked and 17 (94%) reported stress. Physicians identified the lack of negative pressure rooms, fear and anxiety among hospital staff, rapidly evolving guidelines, personal protective equipment shortages and opposition from hospital staff regarding the choice of recommended personal protective equipment as major challenges during the pandemic. Discussion: The results of this study highlight the challenges faced by physicians leading infection prevention and control programmes in Pakistan. It is essential to support infection prevention and control personnel and bridge the identified gaps to ensure patient and staff safety at healthcare facilities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-159
Author(s):  
Anup Ghimire ◽  
Shyam Sundar Budhathoki ◽  
Surya Raj Niraula ◽  
Abha Shrestha ◽  
Paras K Pokharel

Background: Injuries are a problem worldwide in all occupations. Welders are exposed to many hazards at work resulting in a variety of health problems including injuries at work. This study was conducted to find out the prevalence and factors associated with injuries among welders in Dharan city of eastern Nepal.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 86 welders in Dharan city. Occurrence of injury in past 2 weeks and past 12 months were recorded. Data regarding sociodemographic along with occupational characteristics was collected using semi structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 17.Results: All the welders in this study were male with almost half of the welders under the age of 25 years and about a fifth (21.1%) of the welders having received some form of welding training. In the past 12 months, 21.1% of the welders suffered from work related injuries. More than 95% welders used at least one personal protective equipment in this study. More injuries were seen among welders with age ≥35 years, working experience ≥ 5 years, not received training and not using of PPE at work. However, these factors were not found to be statistically significant.Conclusions: Work related injuries are high among welders of Dharan. Further research is required to explore the relationship between age, literacy, training and use of personal protective equipment with the occurrence of injuries among the welders.


Author(s):  
Kevin L. Schwartz ◽  
Camille Achonu ◽  
Sarah A. Buchan ◽  
Kevin A. Brown ◽  
Brenda Lee ◽  
...  

AbstractImportanceProtecting healthcare workers (HCWs) from COVID-19 is a priority to maintain a safe and functioning healthcare system. The risk of transmitting COVID-19 to family members is a source of stress for many.ObjectiveTo describe and compare HCW and non-HCW COVID-19 cases in Ontario, Canada, as well as the frequency of COVID-19 among HCWs’ household members.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsUsing reportable disease data at Public Health Ontario which captures all COVID-19 cases in Ontario, Canada, we conducted a population-based cross-sectional study comparing demographic, exposure, and clinical variables between HCWs and non-HCWs with COVID-19 as of 14 May 2020. We calculated rates of infections over time and determined the frequency of within household transmissions using natural language processing based on residential address.Exposures and OutcomesWe contrasted age, gender, comorbidities, clinical presentation (including asymptomatic and presymptomatic), exposure histories including nosocomial transmission, and clinical outcomes between HCWs and non-HCWs with confirmed COVID-19.ResultsThere were 4,230 (17.5%) HCW COVID-19 cases in Ontario, of whom 20.2% were nurses, 2.3% were physicians, and the remaining 77.4% other specialties. HCWs were more likely to be between 30-60 years of age and female. HCWs were more likely to present asymptomatically (8.1% versus 7.0%, p=0.010) or with atypical symptoms (17.8% versus 10.5%, p<0.001). The mortality among HCWs was 0.2% compared to 10.5% of non-HCWs. HCWs commonly had exposures to a confirmed case or outbreak (74.1%), however only 3.1% were confirmed to be nosocomial. The rate of new infections was 5.5 times higher in HCWs than non-HCWs, but mirrored the epidemic curve. We identified 391 (9.8%) probable secondary household transmissions and 143 (3.6%) acquisitions. Children < 19 years comprised 14.6% of secondary cases compared to only 4.2% of the primary cases.Conclusions and RelevanceHCWs represent a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario but with low confirmed numbers of nosocomial transmission. The data support substantial testing bias and under-ascertainment of general population cases. Protecting HCWs through appropriate personal protective equipment and physical distancing from colleagues is paramount.Key PointsQuestionWhat are the differences between healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers with COVID-19?FindingsIn this population-based cross-sectional study there were 4,230 healthcare workers comprising 17.5% of COVID-19 cases. Healthcare workers were diagnosed with COVID-19 at a rate 5.5 times higher than the general population with 0.8% of all healthcare workers, compared to 0.1% of non-healthcare workers.MeaningHigh healthcare worker COVID-19 burden highlights the importance of physical distancing from colleagues, appropriate personal protective equipment, as well as likely substantial testing bias and under-ascertainment of COVID-19 in the general population.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-22
Author(s):  
K M Nazmul Islam Joy ◽  
Reaz Mahmud ◽  
Md Golam Rabbani ◽  
Md Khairul Islam ◽  
Rajesh Saha ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-115
Author(s):  
Yurike Septianingrum ◽  
Andikawati Fitriasari ◽  
Erika Martining Wardani

Background: During the Covid-19 outbreak, health workers, especially nurses, are vulnerable to potential psychological symptoms such as anxiety, which can prevent nurses from carrying out their role as caregivers in health services (Lai et al., 2020; Shanafelt et al., 2020). Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors that can influence the anxiety of nurses in playing the role of caregiver during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a population of all nurses who met the inclusion criteria as much as 105 nurses. The research sample was selected through stratified random sampling and obtained 84 nurses. This research was conducted at RSI Jemursari Surabaya from June until September 2020. The research instruments used in this study were the demographic observation sheet, knowledge questionnaire, and the Hamilton Anxiety Rank Scale (HARS). Data analysis used Pearson chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression. Results: The results of the Pearson Chi-square test showed that of all the factors studied, only age (p = 0.004), availability of personal protective equipment (p = 0.002), and knowledge (p = 0.017) influenced nurses' anxiety. The results of the analysis using multivariate logistic regression test showed that the factor that most influenced nurses' anxiety was the availability of personal protective equipment (p = 0.001; OR = -3.062). Conclusion: Younger nurses, inadequate personal protective equipment, and less knowledgeable nurses were at high risk for more severe anxiety. Regular observation of the psychological condition of nurses and the fulfillment of the need for personal protective equipment is needed to prevent increased anxiety in nurses.   Keywords: Nurse, anxiety, Covid-19, caregiver.


2020 ◽  
pp. postgradmedj-2020-139150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramanathan Swaminathan ◽  
Bimantha Perera Mukundadura ◽  
Shashi Prasad

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the use of enhanced personal protective equipment (PPE) in healthcare workers in patient-facing roles. We describe the impact on the physical and mental well-being of healthcare professionals who use enhanced PPE consistently.MethodsWe conducted a single-centre, cross-sectional study among healthcare professionals who use enhanced PPE. A web-based questionnaire was disseminated to evaluate the effects on individuals’ physical and mental well-being. Physical and mental impact was assessed through a visual analogue scale.ResultsProspective analysis of the views of 72 respondents is reported. 63.9% were women and 36.1% were men. Physical impact included exhaustion, headache, skin changes, breathlessness and a negative impact on vision. Communication difficulties, somnolence, negative impact on overall performance and difficulties in using surgical instrumentation were reported.ConclusionOur study demonstrates the undeniable negative impact on the front-line healthcare workers using enhanced PPE and lays the ground for larger multicentric assessments given for it to potentially be the norm for the foreseeable future.


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