Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection among healthcare workers in a tertiary public hospital in Curitiba, Brazil

Spalanzani, Regiane Nogueira; Genelhoud, Gustavo; Raboni, Sonia Mara; Almeida, Sergio Monteiro de; Pereira, Luciane Aparecida; Rotta, Indianara; Cavalli, Barbara Maria; Moreira, Francielli Brusco; Dino, Carolina Lumi Tanaka; Takahashi, Gislene Reche de Almeida; Cognialli, Regielly Caroline Raimundo; Spiri, Beatriz Sanada; Bochnia-Bueno, Lucas; Oliveira, Jaqueline Carvalho de; Adamoski, Douglas; Gradia, Daniela Fiori; Bonatto, Ana Cláudia; Wassem, Roseli; Alves, Juliana Mazini; Padilha, Raquel da Silva; Brasil, Vitor Jorge Woytuski; Almeida, Bernardo Montesanti Machado de; Nogueira, Meri Bordignon

doi:10.1590/0037-8682-0265-2021

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Short Communication • Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop. 55 • 2022 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0265-2021 copy

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection among healthcare workers in a tertiary public hospital in Curitiba, Brazil

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Curitiba, Brazil.

METHODS:

Upper respiratory samples from 1077 HCWs were tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction from June 16, 2020 to December 9, 2020.

RESULTS:

Overall, 32.7% of HCWs were infected. The positivity rates in symptomatic and asymptomatic HCWs were 39.2% and 15.9%, respectively. Hospital departments categorized as high-risk for exposure had the highest number of infected HCWs.

CONCLUSIONS:

Early diagnosis and isolation of infected HCWs remain key in controlling SARS-CoV-2 transmission because HCWs in close contact with COVID-19 patients are more likely to be infected than those who are not.

Keywords:
Health personnel; COVID-19; Nosocomial transmission; Molecular diagnosis; SARS-CoV-2

Characteristic	Total	Positive test		Negative test		OR	p value
	n	n	%	n	%
	1077	352	32,7	725	67,3
Sex
Female	803	244	30,4	559	69,6		0,01
Male	274	108	39,4	166	60,6
Age Median (IQR)
Median (IQR)		40(33; 48)		39(32; 46)			0,06
Occupation
Physiotherapists	44	16	36,4	28	63,6	1.85	0.20
Healthcare assistants^a	518	179	34,6	339	65,4	1.71	0.08
Physicians	209	71	34,0	138	66,0	1.67	0.13
Nurses	196	58	29,6	138	70,4	1.36	0.43
Others^b	42	12	28,6	30	71,4	1.30	0.65
Clerical workers, technicians	68	16	23,5	52	76,5	reference group
Presence of symptoms
Yes	775	304	39,2	471	60,8		< 0.0001
No	302	48	15,9	254	84,1
Reported contact with infected person	302	118	39,1	184	60,9		0.01
Comorbidities
Reported at least one comorbidity	175	54	30,9	121	68,8	0.91	0.64
Cardiovascular diseases	62	29	46,8	33	53,2	1.79	0.04
Hematological diseases	10	4	40,0	6	60,0	1.36	0.64
Autoimmune diseases	8	3	37,5	5	62,5	1.22	0.79
Metabolical/hormonal diseases	37	12	32,4	24	64,9	1.02	0.96
Rheumatological diseases	6	1	16,7	5	83,3	0.41	0.40
Respiratory diseases	46	5	10,9	41	89,1	0.25	0.002
Psychologic diseases	4	-	-	4	100,0	-	0.16
Infectious diseases	3	-	-	3	100,0	-	0.23
No comorbidity	328	108	32,9	220	67,1	reference group

Symptoms	Total	Positive test		Negative test		p value	OR	95% CI
Symptoms	n	n	%	n	%	p value	OR	95% CI
Anosmia or parosmia	114	92	80.7	22	19.3	< 0.0001	11.31	6.95 - 8.39
Ageusia or dysgeusia	47	35	74.5	12	25.5	< 0.0001	6.56	3.36 - 2.81
Dyspnea	81	56	69.1	25	30.9	< 0.0001	5.30	3.24 - 8.65
Ocular symptoms	15	9	60.0	6	40.0	0.02	3.14	1.11 - 8.90
Fever	173	99	57.2	74	42.8	< 0.0001	3.44	2.46 - 4.81
Asthenia	121	66	54.5	55	45.5	< 0.0001	2.81	1.92 - 4.13
Myalgia	334	166	49.7	168	50.3	< 0.0001	2.96	2.26 - 3.88
Cough	352	171	48.6	181	51.4	< 0.0001	2.84	2.17 - 3.71
Diarrhea	134	55	41.0	79	59.0	0.03	1.51	1.05 - 2.19
Nausea	52	21	40.4	31	59.6	0.22	1.42	0.80 - 2.51
Coryza	395	153	38.7	242	61.3	0.001	1.53	1.18 - 1.99
Headache	280	98	35.0	182	65.0	0.34	1.15	0.86 - 1.53
Sore throat	243	57	23.5	186	76.5	0.0005	0.56	0.40 - 0.78
Vomiting	17	3	17.6	14	82.4	0.18	0.44	0.12 - 1.53

Level of exposure	Workplace	Total	Positive tests		Negative tests		p value	OR	95% CI
Level of exposure	Workplace	n	n	%	n	%
High	Semi-intensive care units	34	17	50.0	17	50.0	0.21	4	0.40 - 39.58
	COVID-19 units	187	89	47.6	98	52.4	0.22	0.36	0.39 - 33.1
	Emergency units	64	21	32.8	43	67.2	0.55	1.95	0.21 - 18.58
	Intensive care units	96	30	31.3	66	68.8	0.59	1.82	0.19 - 16-97
	Internal medicine	47	14	29.8	33	70.2	0.65	1.70	0.17 - 16.57
	Total of high-risk exposure level	428	171	40.0	257	60.0	0.001	2.17	1.38 - 3.38
Moderate	Surgical units	80	36	45.0	44	55.0	0.38	2.62	0.28 - 24.38
	Laboratory	47	14	29.8	33	70.2	0.65	1.70	0.17 - 16.57
	Non-COVID-19 medical areas	339	88	26.0	251	74.0	0.76	1.40	0.15 - 12.7
	Gynecology and obstetrics	51	12	23.5	39	76.5	0.85	1.23	0.13 - 12.09
	Total of moderate-risk exposure level	517	150	29.0	367	71.0	0.21	1.33	0.85 - 2.07
Low	Administrative, management, preventive management and social workers	104	25	24.0	79	76.0	0.83	1.27	0.14 - 11.85
	Pharmacy	23	5	21.7	18	78.3	0.93	1.11	0.10 - 12.3
	Hospitality, cafeteria and cleaning personnel	5	1	20.0	4	80.0	reference group
	Total of low-risk exposure level	132	31	23.5	101	76.5	exposure risk reference group

Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical - SBMT Caixa Postal 118, 38001-970 Uberaba MG Brazil, Tel.: +55 34 3318-5255 / +55 34 3318-5636/ +55 34 3318-5287, http://rsbmt.org.br/ - Uberaba - MG - Brazil
E-mail: rsbmt@uftm.edu.br

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[1] Corresponding author: Dr. Meri Bordignon Nogueira. e-mail:meribor@ufpr.br