Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bengaluru.
J Assoc Physicians India. 2022 Apr;70(4):11-12.
The COVID 19 infection is highly transmissible and spreading globally, including in populations with high vaccination rates. COVID-19 vaccination in India, was started in month of January 2021 with healthcare workers (HCWs) becoming the first to get vaccinated. However, there has been lot debate on the efficacy of the vaccine. This study highlights breakthrough COVID-19 infections among vaccinated HCWs comparing clinical and lab parameter among hospitalized and non hospitalized.
This was a retrospective study conducted using questionnaire assessing COVID-19 like symptoms and confirmed COVID 19 infections among fully vaccinated HCWs (all faculty including nurses, wardboys, professors, post graduate students and interns) of the institute from a period of 4 months from March 2021 to June 2021. The number of infections was also matched with hospital records.
Out of 36 HCWs, all had received both doses of covishield vaccine. Males were 18 and females were 18, mean age was found to ne 32.17. People with co-morbidities were 13.9% including diabetes and hypertension. Out 36 HCWs, 4 people required hospitalization ie 11%, all other cases had mild symptoms and none required oxygen support. There was no significant difference between hospitalized and non-hospitalized with regard to routine lab parameters, but there significant elevation of inflammatory marker -CRP being positive in 2 hospitalized cases, with p value being significant (p<0.001).
This study identifies that breakthrough infections among vaccinated HCWs(health care workers) were common. Most breakthrough infections were mild or asymptomatic, although persistent symptoms did occur. The findings suggested that COVID-19 were more severe in hospitalized patients compared to non-hospitalized and even though infections did occur none resulted in any severe form or mortality, it also indicates that vaccination prevents from severe form of the disease. But, preventive measures should be continued even among vaccinated individuals.
COVID-19 感染具有高度传染性，并在包括高疫苗接种率人群在内的全球范围内传播。印度于 2021 年 1 月开始对 COVID-19 进行疫苗接种，医护人员（HCWs）成为第一批接种疫苗的人。然而，疫苗的功效一直存在很多争议。本研究通过比较住院和非住院患者的临床和实验室参数，突出了接种疫苗的 HCWs 中突破性 COVID-19 感染的情况。
这是一项回顾性研究，使用问卷评估了来自该研究所的完全接种疫苗的 HCWs（包括护士、病房男孩、教授、研究生和实习生在内的所有教员）在 2021 年 3 月至 6 月的 4 个月期间出现的 COVID-19 样症状和确诊的 COVID-19 感染。感染人数也与医院记录相匹配。
在 36 名 HCWs 中，所有人都接种了两剂 covishield 疫苗。男性 18 人，女性 18 人，平均年龄为 32.17 岁。有合并症的人占 13.9%，包括糖尿病和高血压。在 36 名 HCWs 中，有 4 人需要住院治疗（即 11%），所有其他病例症状轻微，无需吸氧支持。在常规实验室参数方面，住院和非住院患者之间没有显著差异，但有 2 例住院患者的炎症标志物 CRP 呈阳性，p 值具有显著意义（p<0.001）。
本研究表明，接种疫苗的 HCWs（医护人员）中突破性感染很常见。大多数突破性感染为轻度或无症状，但确实存在持续症状。研究结果表明，与非住院患者相比，住院患者的 COVID-19 更为严重，尽管确实发生了感染，但均未导致任何严重形式或死亡，这也表明疫苗可预防疾病的严重形式。但是，即使在接种疫苗的人群中，也应继续采取预防措施。
