Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Population Health, National Healthcare Group, Singapore.
Health Services and Outcomes Research, National Healthcare Group, Singapore.
Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2021 Mar;15(2):218-226. doi: 10.1111/irv.12803. Epub 2020 Sep 13.
To describe the characteristics of healthcare workers (HCWs) infected with COVID-19 and to examine their sources of exposure.
A descriptive cross-sectional study using data extracted from the centralized disease notification system comprising individuals confirmed with COVID-19 in Singapore between 23 January and 17 April 2020. Occupation of HCWs was categorized into six categories. Their job nature was classified into "frontline" or "back-end" based on the frequency of direct patient contact, and source of exposure was classified as family/household, social interaction or workplace. Chi-square and median tests were used to identify differences between categorical groups and sample medians, respectively.
A total of 88 (1.7%) HCWs were identified from 5,050 cases. Their median age was 35 years. Chinese and Indians constituted 42.0% and 31.8%, respectively, and 43.2% were foreigners. The majority (63.6%) was serving at frontlines handling patient-facing duties, 15.9% were doctors, 11.4% were nurses and 44.3% were ancillary staff. About 81.8% acquired the infection locally, of which 40.3% did not have a clearly identifiable source of exposure. Exposure from the family/household was most common (27.8%), followed by workplace (16.7%) and social interaction (15.3%). All HCWs were discharged well with no mortality; three (3.4%) were ever admitted to intensive care unit and required increased care.
Healthcare workers accounted for a small proportion of COVID-19 cases in Singapore with favourable outcomes. The possibility of transmission resulting from family/household exposure and social interactions highlights the need to maintain strict vigilance and precautionary measures at all times beyond the workplace.
描述感染 COVID-19 的医护人员（HCWs）的特征，并研究其感染源。
采用描述性的横断面研究，使用从 2020 年 1 月 23 日至 4 月 17 日期间新加坡集中疾病报告系统中提取的数据。将 HCWs 的职业分为六类。根据与患者直接接触的频率，将其工作性质分为“一线”或“后端”，感染源分为家庭/家庭、社会互动或工作场所。使用卡方检验和中位数检验分别识别分类组之间的差异和样本中位数。
从 5050 例病例中确定了 88 例（1.7%）医护人员。他们的中位年龄为 35 岁。华人占 42.0%，印度人占 31.8%，外国人占 43.2%。大多数（63.6%）在前线处理面向患者的工作，15.9%是医生，11.4%是护士，44.3%是辅助人员。约 81.8%在当地感染，其中 40.3%没有明确的感染源。家庭/家庭接触是最常见的感染源（27.8%），其次是工作场所（16.7%）和社会互动（15.3%）。所有医护人员均康复出院，无死亡病例；有 3 例（3.4%）曾入住重症监护病房，需要加强护理。
在新加坡，医护人员在 COVID-19 病例中所占比例较小，结局良好。家庭/家庭接触和社会互动传播的可能性提示我们，需要始终保持严格警惕和预防措施，不仅在工作场所如此。
