Master's Program in Global Health and Development, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Institute of Population Health Science, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Taiwan.
PLoS One. 2020 May 14;15(5):e0233255. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233255. eCollection 2020.
The COVID-19 outbreak is posing an unprecedented challenge to healthcare workers. This study analyzes the geo-temporal effects on disease severity for the 1,688 Chinese healthcare workers infected with COVID-19.
Using the descriptive results recently reported by the Chinese CDC, we compare the percentage of infected healthcare workers in severe conditions over time and across three areas in China, and the fatality rate of infected healthcare workers with all the infected individuals in China aged 22-59 years.
Among the infected Chinese healthcare workers whose symptoms onset appeared during the same ten-day period, the percentage of those in severe conditions decreased significantly from 19.7% (Jan 11-20) to 14.4% (Jan 21-31) to 8.7% (Feb 1-11). Across the country, there was also a significant difference in the disease severity, with Wuhan being the most severe (17.3%), followed by Hubei Province (10.2%), and the rest of China (6.6%). The case fatality rate for the 1,688 infected Chinese healthcare workers was significantly lower than that for the 29,798 infected patients aged 20-59 years-0.3% (5/1,688) vs. 0.65% (193/29,798), respectively.
The disease severity among infected healthcare workers improved considerably over a short period of time in China. The more severe conditions in Wuhan compared to the rest of the country may be attributable to the draconian lockdown. The clinical outcomes of infected Chinese healthcare workers may represent a more accurate estimation of the severity of COVID-19 for those who have access to quality healthcare.
COVID-19 疫情给医护人员带来了前所未有的挑战。本研究分析了 1688 名感染 COVID-19 的中国医护人员疾病严重程度的地理和时间效应。
利用中国疾病预防控制中心最近报告的描述性结果，我们比较了在同一十天期间出现症状的中国感染医护人员中处于严重状态的百分比，以及中国 22-59 岁所有感染人群中感染医护人员的死亡率。
在同一十天期间出现症状的中国感染医护人员中，处于严重状态的百分比从 19.7%（1 月 11-20 日）显著下降至 14.4%（1 月 21-31 日）和 8.7%（2 月 1-11 日）。在全国范围内，疾病严重程度也存在显著差异，武汉最为严重（17.3%），其次是湖北省（10.2%），其余中国地区（6.6%）。1688 名感染中国医护人员的病死率明显低于 29798 名 20-59 岁感染患者-0.3%（5/1688）与 0.65%（193/29798）。
中国感染医护人员的疾病严重程度在短时间内有了显著改善。与其他地区相比，武汉的情况更为严重，这可能是由于严格的封锁措施所致。感染中国医护人员的临床结局可能代表了对那些能够获得高质量医疗服务的 COVID-19 严重程度的更准确估计。
