SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance among Healthcare Personnel
Summary
Healthcare personnel (HCP) are at risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 during their interactions with patients with suspected or confirmed infection with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) or patients with unrecognized infection. At the start of the pandemic, little was known about the novel virus and its specific risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 transmission, particularly among HCP exposed in healthcare facilities. Furthermore, as community transmission became widespread and hospitals and other healthcare facilities were caring for rapidly increasing numbers of infected patients, the burden of COVID-19 among HCP in U.S. healthcare facilities was unclear. Additional information about characteristics of exposed and infected HCPs and associated risk and protective factors was urgently needed to inform guidance for healthcare facilities domestically and abroad to protect the healthcare workforce—a critical asset during this pandemic.
Goals & Objectives:
- Determine the extent of COVID-19 among healthcare personnel (HCP) working in U.S. acute care hospitals (ACH) or other healthcare facilities.
- Describe characteristics of HCP exposed to or infected with SARS-CoV-2, including clinical activities and personal protective equipment (PPE) use.
Activities
In Connecticut (CT), tracking of SARS-Co-V-2 infections among healthcare personnel (HCP) began in May 2020. Hospitals under surveillance in CT included the CT facilities of two health systems in the state. Yale EIP staff worked with health system staff to identify HCP diagnosed with COVID-19. HCP with COVID-19 who agreed to be contacted were interviewed to collect demographics, underlying medical conditions, roles in healthcare facilities, locations of work in the healthcare facility, locations of exposures (including community exposures), activities during exposures, PPE used during Covid-19 patient care, source control in patients, and duration of exposures. Yale EIP staff also collected denominator information from the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) or the health system on total number of HCPs in the health system stratified by characteristics such as job category and facility, where possible.
Enrollment for this project concluded in December 2020, when the objective of the project transitioned to evaluating vaccine effectiveness.
Publications
Chea N, Eure T, Penna AR, et al. Practices and activities among healthcare personnel with severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection working in different healthcare settings-ten Emerging Infections Program sites, April-November 2020. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2022;43(8):1058-1062. doi:10.1017/ice.2021.262
Related Links
Project Contact
Monica Brackney, MS
Program Manager, HPV-IMPACT
Connecticut Emerging Infections Program
One Church Street, 7th floor
New Haven, CT 06510
203-737-6978