Open AccessImpact of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among health care workers in a secondary teaching hospital in Spain
Author(s) -
Javier Garralda Fernández,
Ignacio Molero Vilches,
Alfredo Bermejo Rodríguez,
Isabel Cano Torres,
Elda Isabel Colino Romay,
I. García Arata,
Jerónimo Jaqueti Aroca,
Rosa Lillo Rodríguez,
Daniel López Lacomba,
Luis Mazón Cuadrado,
Laura Molina,
Luis Javier Morales García,
Laura Moratilla Monzo,
Elva Nieto-Borrajo,
María Pacheco Delgado,
Santiago Prieto Menchero,
Cristina Sánchez Hernández,
Eva Sánchez Testillano,
Jesús GarcíaMartínez
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0245001
Subject(s) - pandemic , medicine , personal protective equipment , health care , workforce , covid-19 , incidence (geometry) , cross sectional study , cumulative incidence , healthcare worker , young adult , emergency medicine , family medicine , pathology , disease , cohort , infectious disease (medical specialty) , physics , optics , economics , economic growth
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a huge challenge to healthcare systems and their personnel worldwide. The study of the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers (HCW), through prevalence studies, will let us know viral expansion, individuals at most risk and the most exposed areas in healthcare organizations. The aim of this study is to gauge the impact of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in our hospital workforce and identify groups and areas at increased risk. Methods and findings This is a cross-sectional and incidence study carried out on healthcare workers based on molecular and serological diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Of the 3013 HCW invited to participate, 2439 (80.9%) were recruited, including 674 (22.4%) who had previously consulted at the Occupational Health Service (OHS) for confirmed exposure and/or presenting symptoms suggestive of COVID-19. A total of 411 (16.9%) and 264 (10.8%) healthcare workers were SARS-CoV-2 IgG and rRT-PCR positive, respectively. The cumulative prevalence considering all studies (IgG positive HCW and/or rRT-PCR positive detection) was 485 (19.9%). SARS-CoV-2 IgG-positive patients in whom the virus was not detected were 221 (9.1%); up to 151 of them (68.3%) did not report any compatible symptoms nor consult at the OHS for this reason. Men became more infected than women (25% vs 18.5%, p = 0.0009), including when data were also classified by age. COVID-19 cumulative prevalence among the HCW assigned to medical departments was higher (25.2%) than others, as well as among medical staff (25.4%) compared with other professional categories (p<0.01). Conclusions The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on HCW of our centre has been 19.9%. Doctors and medical services personnel have had the highest prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but many of them have not presented compatible symptoms. This emphasizes the performance of continuous surveillance methods of the most exposed health personnel and not only based on the appearance of symptoms.