Health Care Worker Transmission of Coronavirus Extremely Low in Surgical Setting
Published on November 1, 2020 by Kenneth Hughes
A recent publication in Mayo clinic proceedings cited extremely low healthcare worker transmission of coronavirus to other healthcare workers. The key to the study was that 2 coronavirus positive coworkers were utilized to expose the rest. Only one of about 400 workers tested positive. This reinforces the utility of personal protective equipment in stopping the spread of the coronavirus. The details of the study are listed below as published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Health care workers are at high risk for contracting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, little is known about the risk of transmission between coworkers. The objective of this study was to determine the risk of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) between coworkers in a surgical environment. This was an observational study of 394 health care workers in a surgical environment who were exposed to 2 known SARS-CoV-2–positive coworkers. Standard infection precautions were in place at the time of the exposure. All 394 exposed workers initially underwent nasopharyngeal swab testing for SARS-CoV-2 using the polymerase chain reaction technique. Of the original group, 387 were tested again with the same technique 1 week later. Of 394 SARS-CoV-2–exposed health care workers initially tested, 1 was positive. No new positive cases were found on repeated testing of 387 participants 1 week later. The risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a health care unit with universal masking and appropriate hand hygiene is low. This should provide some reassurance to surgical practices as they reopen.