A Retrospective Analysis of the Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Hospital in Turkey.

INTRODUCTION

Several vaccines have been developed and approved for use against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2; however, the use of personal protective equipment remains important owing to the lack of effective specific treatment and whole community immunity. Hydroxychloroquine sulfate was a treatment option in the early days of the pandemic; however, it was subsequently removed owing to a lack of evidence as an effective treatment. We aimed to evaluate the testing and infection characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 among health care personnel and determine the effectiveness of prophylactic hydroxychloroquine sulfate use to prevent transmission.

METHODS

This retrospective observational study was conducted between May 1 and September 30, 2020. The health care personnel included in the study were physicians, nurses, and paraprofessional support personnel. The health records of health care personnel who had been tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 using polymerase chain reaction were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS

In total, 508 health care personnel were included in the study. A total of 152 (29.9%) health care personnel were diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019. The positive polymerase chain reaction rate was 80.3% (n = 122). A comparison of infected and uninfected health care personnel showed a difference in age and occupation and no difference in sex, working area, and prophylactic hydroxychloroquine sulfate use.

DISCUSSION

Protective measures in low-risk areas of our hospital require improvements. All health care personnel should be trained on personal protective equipment use. There was no evidence to support the effectiveness of prophylactic hydroxychloroquine sulfate against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 transmission.