Coronavirus: Healthcare workers are more likely to become infected at home or out of hospital

A new American scientific study with surprising results is coming to light. According to her, his employees health personnel face an increased risk of being infected by coronavirus when they are at home or out of hospital, rather than on exposure to inpatients.

Health professionals who came into contact with a confirmed or suspected case of coronavirus were almost four times more likely to become infected themselves than health care providers who did not have such out-of-hospital contact.

In addition, health care providers living in areas where there is a high prevalence of coronavirus are 80% more likely to become infected than their colleagues living in areas with a lower prevalence of Covid-19. Those who work neither in ICUs nor in clinics with Covid-19 patients in general are at greater risk of becoming infected.

The researchers, who made the publication in the American medical journal JAMA Network Open and as relayed by APE-MPE, analyzed data on nearly 24,800 members of the medical staff in many hospitals in four US states (70% of health workers were under 50 years old. and almost 80% women). Half (50%) reported direct contact with a Covid-19 patient at work, while 81% had no contact with a Covid-19 case outside the hospital.

It was found that health workers (the remaining 19%) who had such contact were 3.5 times more likely to become infected. In contrast, their colleagues who had direct contact with Covid-19 patients were not at increased risk.

The lead researcher, infectious disease doctor Dr. “At work we think about avoiding infection all the time, but outside of work anyone, including health professionals, is more likely to catch the coronavirus,” said Jesse Jacob of Emory University in Atlanta.