• Rodrigo Poblete Umanzor, Fernando Saldías Peñafiel, Natalia Sabatini Ugarte, Andy Vite Valverde, Alejandro Ceriani Bravo, Soledad Schaffeld Pernas, Luz María Letelier Saavedra, José Ignacio Gran Scheuch, and Ricardo Rabagliati Borie.
• Departamento de Medicina Interna, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
• Rev Med Chil. 2020 Jun 1; 148 (6): 724-733.

BackgroundHealthcare personnel are a high-risk group for acquiring COVID-19 disease. They represent 4 to 20% of the total number of cases reported in different geographical areas.AimTo describe an epidemiological surveillance strategy to detect symptoms compatible with SARS-CoV-2 infection and early case detection among healthcare personnel at a university hospital.Patients And MethodsWe assessed 209 healthcare workers reporting symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 in a telephone counseling system. After a structured evaluation, the suggestions ranged from having a SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal swab PCR test, consulting in the emergency room or at outpatient clinic or returning to work.ResultsIn 61% of assessed workers a coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal swab PCR was requested and 28 (22%) were positive. In a multivariate analysis, the clinical variables associated with a positive PCR test were the presence of fever, sudden loss of smell or taste, and a history of contact with a COVID-19 positive case.ConclusionsThe telephone symptom monitoring program allowed the early detection of a significant number of healthcare officials with acute respiratory infection due to coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, it is easy to implement and has a low cost.

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