scholarly journals COVID-19 infection outbreak among health care workers: perspective from a low-middle income country

2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nishanth Dev ◽  
Vijay Kumar ◽  
Jhuma Sankar

To the Editor, The new pandemic COVID -19 caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a global threat. So far, more than 11 million infections and more than five hundred thousand deaths have been reported worldwide. In India the number of cases as of 5th July, 2020 is 6,73,165 with 19,268 deaths. Health care workers (HCWs) have been the backbone of this pandemic since the very beginning...

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 1864-69
Author(s):  
Syed Waqar Abbas ◽  
Shoaib Ahmed ◽  
Syeda Fatimah Zareen ◽  
Sadia Fatima ◽  
Nusrat Rehan ◽  
...  

Objective: To determine clinical presentations and source among severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 positive health care workers of tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi, from Mar to Jun 2020. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted by using a questionnaire for risk assessment regardingexposure to Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus and practices of participants. Health care workers whowere exposed or had fever, cough, shortness of breath, were asked to undergo semi-quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction test for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 onnasopharyngeal and oro-pharyngeal swabs. Results: Out of the 92 health care workers who tested positive, 80/92 (86.95%) were males, 12/92 (13.04%)females. Asymptomatic cases were 53/92 (57.60%) and 39/92 (42.40%) were symptomatic, 10/92 (10.8%) of theparticipants were doctors, 06/92 (6.52%) nurses, 36/92 (39.14%) paramedics and 40/92 (43.47%) were hospitalauxiliary staff. Among symptomatic cases, 28/39 (71.79%) developed fever with myalgia, 22/39 fever alone,23/39 (58.97%) headache, 13/39 (33%) sore throat, 15/39 (38%) runny nose, 11/39 (28.20%) mild shortness ofbreath on exertion, 7/39 (17.94%) diarrhea and 5/39 (12.82%) experienced loss of taste. Conclusion: As the Corona Virus Disease 2019 pandemic continues, chances of health care workers gettinginfected are high so it is critical to improve the knowledge of Health care workers. Educational interventions and further studies are warranted in this regard.


Author(s):  
Gabriela Fernandes

Aim: The aim of this survey study was to assess the level of awareness amongst Indian population regarding the COVID-19. Method: A survey was conducted amongst 745 individuals to assess their level of awareness regarding COVID-19 and steps to be taken for its prevention. Result: The results revealed that a considerable percentage of individuals learned about the pandemic through social media and news and were aware of the mode of spread of the virus and also steps to be taken to prevent it from spreading. But considerable percentage of people was also not fully aware regarding the age groups this virus will be affecting. Conclusion: Upon understanding the percentage of people not aware about the age groups this virus will be affecting, keeping in mind good amount of knowledge amongst individuals about maintaining hygiene and social distancing, this survey would help the health care workers to create awareness regarding the effect of this virus on different age groups to help prevent carelessness amongst youth in following the regime.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaojie Wei ◽  
Yufeng Yuan ◽  
Zhenshun Cheng

AbstractSince the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019, it has been characterized as a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO). It was reported that asymptomatic persons are potential sources of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. We present an outbreak among health-care workers incited by a doctor who cared a patient with COVID-19 in a Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei, China, which indicates existence of super-spreader even during incubation period.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 102111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenpeng Cai ◽  
Bin Lian ◽  
Xiangrui Song ◽  
Tianya Hou ◽  
Guanghui Deng ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 1398-1408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jang-Hee Cho ◽  
Seok Hui Kang ◽  
Hayne Cho Park ◽  
Dong Ki Kim ◽  
Sang-Ho Lee ◽  
...  

Background Health care–associated infections during previous coronavirus epidemics involving severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome resulted from human-to-human transmission in hemodialysis (HD) facilities. The effect of a strategy of HD with cohort isolation—separate dialysis sessions for close contacts of patients with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)—on the prevention of secondary transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in HD units is unknown.MethodsOur multicenter cohort study of an HD with cohort isolation strategy enrolled close contacts of patients with confirmed COVID-19, including patients on HD and health care workers in HD units. Close contacts had been identified by epidemiologic investigation and tested negative on an immediate screening test for SARS-CoV-2.ResultsAs of March 14, 11 patients on HD and 7 health care workers from 11 HD centers were diagnosed as having COVID-19. The immediate screening test was performed in 306 people, and among them, 302 close contacts with negative test results were enrolled. HD with cohort isolation was performed among all close contacts for a median of 14 days in seven centers. During cohort isolation, nine patients showed symptoms but tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. Two health care workers in the HD units (0.66% of the total group) were diagnosed at the termination test for SARS-CoV-2.ConclusionsThe transmission of COVID-19 can be controlled without closure of HD centers by implementing preemptive activities, including early detection with rapid testing, cohort isolation, collaboration between institutions, and continuous monitoring of infection. Our strategy and experience may provide helpful guidance for circumstances involving the rapid spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19.


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