Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Cheng, Chih-Chien
• Fann, Li-Yun
• Chou, Yi-Chang
• Liu, Chia-Chen
• Hu, Hsiao-Yun
• Chu, Dachen

Titel

Nosocomial infection and spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection among hospital staff, patients and caregivers

Ist Teil von

• World journal of clinical cases, 2022-12, Vol.10 (34), p.12559-12565

Ort / Verlag

United States: Baishideng Publishing Group Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Electronic Journals Library - Freely accessible e-journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• There are difficulties in diagnosing nosocomial transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in hospital settings. Furthermore, mortality of cases of nosocomial infection (NI) with SARS-CoV-2 is higher than that of the general infected population. In the early stage of the pandemic in Taiwan, as patients were not tested for SARS-CoV-2 at admission, NIs often go undetected. Strictly applying the systematic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening, as a standard infection control measure was subsequently implemented to reduce NI incidence. However, evidence on risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 NIs among healthcare workers (HCWs) and caregivers is limited. To assess NI incidence of SARS-CoV-2 among hospital staff, hospitalized patients, and caregivers, and the transmission routes of clusters of infection. This descriptive retrospective analysis at our hospital from May 15 to August 15, 2021 included data on 132 SARS-CoV-2 NIs cases among hospital staff, inpatients, and caregivers who previously tested negative but subsequently identified with a positive SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) test results, or a hospital staff who tested positive following routine SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test. Chi-square tests were performed to compare the differences between hospital staff and private caregivers, and between clusters and sporadic infections. Overall, 9149 patients and 2005 hospital staff members underwent routine SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing, resulting in 12 confirmed cluster and 23 sporadic infections. Among the index cases of the clusters, three (25%) cases were among hospital staff and nine (75%) cases were among other contacts. Among sporadic infections, 21 (91%) cases were among hospital staff and two (9%) cases were among other contacts ( < 0.001). There was an average of 8.08 infections per cluster. The secondary cases of cluster infection were inpatients (45%), hospital staff (30%), and caregivers (25%). Private caregivers constituted 27% and 4% of the clusters and sporadic infections, respectively ( = 0.024); 92.3% of them were infected in the clusters. The mortality rate was 0.0%. The incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was relatively high among private caregivers, indicating a need for infection control education in this group, such as social distancing, frequent hand-washing, and wearing PPE.