Oliveira PR, Carvalho VC, Anjos AM, Melo VF, Leite C, Silva AC, Maluf NZ, Silva JS, Lima ALL. Experience with SARS-CoV-2 in an orthopaedic hospital.
Infect Prev Pract 2022;
5:100260. [PMCID:
PMC9682869 DOI:
10.1016/j.infpip.2022.100260]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
Concerns about nosocomial transmission of SARS-CoV-2 have been described since the COVID-19 pandemic was first reported and cases of hospital-acquired (HA) COVID-19 and COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported even in clinical areas not intended for the specific care of COVID-19 and declared as “non-COVID” areas.
Methods
Retrospective analysis of measures to prevent of hospital acquisition of COVID-19 in patients admitted to a tertiary referral specialist orthopaedic hospital in Brazil in which emergency care was maintained during the pandemic.
Results
The proportion of HA-COVID-19 (0.07%) was lower than the value reported for general healthcare in Brazil (0.72%, P<0.001). The integration of several clinical teams to maintain a constant surveillance system, as well as the immediate isolation of patients with any compatible symptoms of COVID-19 and the restriction from work and the testing of symptomatic healthcare workers, were an important part of the strategies adopted.
Conclusion
We suggest that the described strategies for preventing the nosocomial spread of SARS-CoV-2 contributed to the observed proportion of HA-COVID-19 to be significantly lower than the reported national value. Future studies that investigate these and other preventative measures are important so that hospitals are prepared for further periods of a high incidence of COVID-19, as well as for other epidemics associated with respiratory transmission.
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