EXPLORE!

CMAAO Coronavirus Facts And Myth Buster: Healthcare workers'' seroprevalence 5%

  1819 Views

Dr KK Aggarwal    04 September 2020

With input from Dr Monica Vasudev

1073: COVID-19 Often Undiagnosed in Frontline Hospital Workers

Reuters excerpts: A large number of COVID-19 infections among healthcare personnel in the US appear to go undetected, according to a report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of the US Centers for Disease Control.

From April through June, among over 3,000 frontline workers across 12 states, approximately 1 in 20 had antibody evidence of a previous COVID-19 infection. Of note, 69% of those infections had never been diagnosed.

Among healthcare workers with antibodies to the novel coronavirus, nearly one-third did not recall having symptoms in the preceding months, about half of them did not suspect that they had been infected, and around two-thirds of them had never had a positive COVID-19 test.

Infections among frontline healthcare workers appear to be going undetected, as some infections may be minimally symptomatic or asymptomatic. Additionally, personnel with symptoms may not always have access to testing.

COVID-19 antibodies were less common among workers using a face covering for all patient encounters and more common among those who reporting a shortage of personal protective equipment.

 

Dr KK Aggarwal

President CMAAO, HCFI and Past National President IMA

To comment on this article,
create a free account.

Sign Up to instantly get access to 10000+ Articles & 1000+ Cases

Already registered?

Login Now

Most Popular Articles

News and Updates

eMediNexus provides latest updates on medical news, medical case studies from India. In-depth medical case studies and research designed for doctors and healthcare professionals.