Infection control and hospital epidemiology : the official journal of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Dec 2020
The utility of chest computed tomography (CT) and RT-PCR screening of asymptomatic patients for SARS-CoV-2 prior to semiurgent or urgent hospital procedures.
Presently, evidence guiding clinicians on the optimal approach to safely screen patients for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to a nonemergent hospital procedure is scarce. In this report, we describe our experience in screening for SARS-CoV-2 prior to semiurgent and urgent hospital procedures. ⋯ In our experience, chest CT scanning did not prove provide valuable information in detecting asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in our low-prevalence population.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Dec 2020
We must rigorously follow basic infection control procedures to protect our healthcare workers from SARS-CoV-2.
Because severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spreads easily and healthcare workers are at increased risk of both acquiring and transmitting infection, all healthcare facilities must rapidly and rigorously implement the full hierarchy of established infection controls: source control (removal or mitigation of infection sources), engineering and environmental controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Dec 2020
Seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies among healthcare workers with differing levels of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient exposure.
Healthcare employees were tested for antibodies against severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Among 734 employees, the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 1.6%. Employees with heavy coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exposure had similar antibody prevalence as those with limited or no exposure. Guidelines for PPE use seem effective for preventing COVID-19 infection in healthcare workers.