| Title: |
SARS-CoV-2 epidemiological surveillance of healthcare professionals working in an inpatient rehabilitation facility |
| Authors: |
Tomino C.; Limongi D.; Checconi P.; Ambrosi C.; Gatta L.; Vitiello L.; Prezioso C.; Proietti S.; Marcolongo F.; Pour N. S.; Palamara A. T.; Bonassi S.; Russo P. |
| Contributors: |
Tomino, C.; Limongi, D.; Checconi, P.; Ambrosi, C.; Gatta, L.; Vitiello, L.; Prezioso, C.; Proietti, S.; Marcolongo, F.; Pour, N. S.; Palamara, A. T.; Bonassi, S.; Russo, P. |
| Publisher Information: |
Versa Media, 2016-; Target Publishing, 2006-2015.; Societatea Română de Pneumologie; Bucureşti |
| Publication Year: |
2022 |
| Collection: |
Sapienza Università di Roma: CINECA IRIS |
| Subject Terms: |
SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19 nucleic acid testing; healthcare workers; surveillance; prevalence; prevention |
| Description: |
Background: Healthcare Workers (HCW) represent one of the most vulnerable subject groups to be infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Aims: Between March 2020 and May 2020, we decided to implement a surveillance programme for HCW that aimed to (1) strengthen the safety of the employees; (2) estimate the punctual prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in asymptomatic operators; (3) use the results to train personnel and to strengthen surveillance for applying and validating preventive strategies; and (4) compare the observed prevalence and the infection characteristics with a real-life (RL) sample from non-healthcare settings. Methods: A nasopharyngeal (NP) swab in HCW, representative of all mansions, and RL subjects was performed after informed consent signing (T0), then after 6 d ± 24 h (T1) and after 12 d ± 24 h (T2). The presence of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA was tested by commercially available real-time PCR. Results: A total of 219 HCW and 100 RL subjects were enrolled; and among all the subjects, only 1 HCW resulted positive at the swab testing throughout the study period. The positive subject was an asymptomatic nurse without any comorbidities or risk factors. Conclusions: Our experience supports the utility of implementing dedicated surveillance programmes for the HCW. The efficiency in keeping low the number of the infection, maintaining the psychological well-being of the personnel and the availability of a tool which in case of infection may allow the early identification of clusters are critical issues which encourage the planning and implementation of such programmes NIH clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04913701). |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
volume:70; issue:1; firstpage:11; lastpage:17; numberofpages:7; journal:PNEUMOLOGIA; https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1753961 |
| DOI: |
10.2478/pneum-2022-0004 |
| Availability: |
https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1753961; https://doi.org/10.2478/pneum-2022-0004 |
| Rights: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ; license:Creative commons ; license uri:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.2B507F99 |
| Database: |
BASE |