Clinica INDISA, Santiago, Chile.
Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile.
PLoS One. 2021 Jan 28;16(1):e0245913. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245913. eCollection 2021.
Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection of healthcare workers (HCWs) has been reported as a key player in the nosocomial spreading of COVID-19. Early detection of infected HCWs can prevent spreading of the virus in hospitals among HCWs and patients. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the asymptomatic infection of HCWs in a private clinic in the city of Santiago, Chile. Our study was conducted during a period of 5 weeks at the peak of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Chile. Nasopharyngeal samples were obtained from 413 HCWs and tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 using RT-qPCR. We found that a 3.14% of HCWs were positive for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 (14/413). Out of these, 7/14 were completely asymptomatic and did not develop symptoms within 3 weeks of testing. Sequencing of viral genomes showed the predominance of the GR clade; however, sequence comparison demonstrated numerous genetic differences among them suggesting community infection as the main focus of transmission among HCWs. Our study demonstrates that the protocols applied to protect HCWs and patients have been effective as no infection clusters due to asymptomatic carriers were found in the clinic. Together, these data suggest that infection with SARS-CoV-2 among HCWs of this health center is not nosocomial.
无症状的 SARS-CoV-2 感染医护人员(HCWs)已被报道为 COVID-19 在医院内传播的关键因素。早期发现感染的 HCWs 可以防止病毒在医院内的 HCWs 和患者之间传播。我们进行了一项横断面研究,以确定智利圣地亚哥市一家私人诊所的 HCWs 无症状感染情况。我们的研究在智利 SARS-CoV-2 传播高峰期进行了 5 周。从 413 名 HCWs 中采集鼻咽样本,并用 RT-qPCR 检测 SARS-CoV-2 的存在。我们发现,3.14%的 HCWs 检测出 SARS-CoV-2 阳性(14/413)。其中,7/14 例完全无症状,在检测后 3 周内未出现症状。病毒基因组测序显示,GR 分支占优势;然而,序列比较表明它们之间存在许多遗传差异,这表明社区感染是 HCWs 之间传播的主要焦点。我们的研究表明,应用于保护 HCWs 和患者的方案是有效的,因为在诊所中未发现无症状携带者引起的感染群。总之,这些数据表明,该医疗中心的 HCWs 中感染 SARS-CoV-2 不是医院内感染。
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