Analysis of the Infection Status of Healthcare Workers in Wuhan During the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Cross-sectional Study. (15th May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zheng, Lichun; Wang, Xiang; Zhou, Chongchong; Liu, Qin; Li, Shuang; Sun, Qin; Wang, Mengjia; Zhou, Qian; Wang, Wenmei
• Is Part Of: Clinical infectious diseases. Volume 71:Number 16(2020)
• Page Start: 2109
• Page End: 2113
• Publication Date: 2020-05-15
• Subjects: healthcare workers -- infection -- COVID-19; Communicable diseases -- Periodicals; 616.905
• DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciaa588
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1058-4838

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) at the frontline are facing a substantial risk of infection during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Methods: We acquired information and data on general information on and infection and death status of HCWs in Wuhan during the COVID-19 outbreak and completed statistical analyses. Results: We obtained the data on 2457 infected cases among HCWs in Wuhan, China. More than half of the infected individuals were nurses (52.06%), whereas 33.62% of infected cases were doctors and 14.33% of cases were medical staff. In particular, the case infection rate of nurses (2.22%) was remarkably higher than that of doctors (1.92%). Most infected cases among HCWs were female (72.28%). A majority of the infected HCWs (89.26%) came from general hospitals, followed by specialized hospitals (5.70%) and community hospitals (5.05%). The case infection rate of HCWs (2.10%) was dramatically higher than that of non-HCWs (0.43%). The case fatality rate of HCWs (0.69%) was significantly lower than that of non-HCWs (5.30%). Conclusions: The infection risk of HCWs is clearly higher than that of non-HCWs. HCWs play an essential role in fighting the pandemic. The analysis of the infection status of HCWs is essential to attract enough attention from the public, provide effective suggestions for government agencies, and improve protective measures for HCWs. Abstract : The present study is the first work to investigate the infection status of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 outbreak. The analysis of the infection status of healthcare workers is essential to gain knowledge and improve protective measures.