Incidence of COVID-19 in Health Care Personnel in a Tertiary Hospital in Iran

Mahnaz Montazeri; Samira Kafan; Marzieh Pazoki; Khashayar Danandeh; Fazeleh Majidi; Firoozeh Alavi; Soraya   Babaei; Azar Hadadi

doi:10.18502/jimc.v5i1.9589

Mahnaz Montazeri Department of Internal Medicine, Sina Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Samira Kafan Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Sina Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Marzieh Pazoki Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Sina Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Khashayar Danandeh Students’ Scientific Research Center (SSRC), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Fazeleh Majidi Research Development Center, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Firoozeh Alavi Research Development Center, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Soraya Babaei Research Development Center, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Azar Hadadi Department of Internal Medicine, Sina Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jimc.v5i1.9589

Keywords: COVID-19, Healthcare personnel, Infection

Abstract

Background: Since the initiation of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) in February 2020 in Wuhan, the Health Care System (HCS) has tolerated a lot of morbidities and mortalities all around the world. While the COVID -19 is spreading out the whole world, HCS carries almost all the burden as the first line. However, countries like Iran suffer from a lack of infected Health Care Workers (HCW) population data and statistics, especially the major hospitals for COVID-19 referrals.

Methods: In this single-center cross sectional study, we studied the healthcare personnel infected by COVID-19, from February 2020 to August 2020, in a major tertiary hospital of Tehran, Iran.

Results: Of total 1595 HCW working in Sina hospital, 389 (24%) with the mean age of 35.43 ± 8.2 years were infected by COVID-19, almost one fourth. 238 (61.2%) were women, though 92.5% of the population used Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). 140 (36%) of them were personnel of the wards assigned to the COVID-19, Personnel went on sick leave for 7.76 ± 4.64 days. 51(13.1%) personnel had an exacerbation of symptoms, and only one of the personnel experienced COVID-19 almost twice in four months.

Conclusion: COVID-19 infection risk is considered to be very low for HCWs in case suitable PPE and social distancing are regarded. In our study, more than 92% of the infected personnel utilized PPE, which indicates that they might have failed to use PPE properly or might not have taken hand-hygienic precautions well. It is necessary to limit working hours and prevent excessive workload so that the staff could adhere more to hygienic precautions in hospitals or in society.