Diagnosis of COVID-19 Based on Symptomatic Analysis of Hospital Healthcare Workers in Belgium ; Observational Study in a Large Belgian Tertiary Care Center During Early COVID-19 Outbreak
Objective: To identify early symptoms allowing rapid appraisal of infection with SARS-CoV-2 among healthcare workers of a large Belgian hospital. Methods: Healthcare workers with mild symptoms of an acute respiratory tract infection were systematically screened on clinical characteristics of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A nasopharyngeal swab was taken and analyzed by real-time Reverse-Transcription-Polymerase-Chain-Reaction (rRT-PCR). Results: Fifty percent of 373 workers tested COVID-19 positive. The symptoms cough (82%), headache (78%), myalgia (70%), loss of smell or taste (40%), a... Mehr ...
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Dokumenttyp: | Artikel |
Erscheinungsdatum: | 2020 |
Reihe/Periodikum: | Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine ; volume 63, issue 1, page 27-31 ; ISSN 1076-2752 1536-5948 |
Verlag/Hrsg.: |
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
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Schlagwörter: | Public Health / Environmental and Occupational Health |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Permalink: | https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26536543 |
Datenquelle: | BASE; Originalkatalog |
Powered By: | BASE |
Link(s) : | http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/jom.0000000000002015 |
Objective: To identify early symptoms allowing rapid appraisal of infection with SARS-CoV-2 among healthcare workers of a large Belgian hospital. Methods: Healthcare workers with mild symptoms of an acute respiratory tract infection were systematically screened on clinical characteristics of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A nasopharyngeal swab was taken and analyzed by real-time Reverse-Transcription-Polymerase-Chain-Reaction (rRT-PCR). Results: Fifty percent of 373 workers tested COVID-19 positive. The symptoms cough (82%), headache (78%), myalgia (70%), loss of smell or taste (40%), and fever more than or equal to 37.5 °C (76%) were significantly higher among those infected. Conclusion: Where each individual symptom contributes to the clinical evaluation of possible infection, it is the combination of COVID-19 symptoms that could allow for a rapid diagnostic appraisal of the disease in a high prevalence setting. Early transmission control is important at the onset of an epidemic.