Description of COVID-19 hospitalized health worker cases in the first nine weeks of the pandemic, Brazil, 2020.

Duarte, Magda Machado Saraiva; Haslett, Maria Isabella Claudino; Freitas, Leonardo José Alves de; Gomes, Nivreanes Tcherno Nulle; Silva, Danielle Cristine Castanha da; Percio, Jadher; Wada, Marcelo Yoshito; Fantinato, Francieli Fontana Sutile Tardetti; Almeida, Walquiria Aparecida Ferreira de; Silva, Daiana Araujo da; Gava, Caroline; França, Giovanny Vinícius Araújo de; Macário, Eduardo Marques; Baêta, Karla Freire; Malta, Juliane Maria Alves Siqueira; Alves, Ana Julia Silva E

OBJECTIVE To describe COVID-19 hospitalized health worker cases in Brazil. METHODS This was a descriptive case series study; it included cases that became ill between February 21st and April 15th, 2020 registered on the Influenza Surveillance Information System (SIVEP-Gripe, acronym in Portuguese). RESULTS Of the 184 cases, 110 (59.8%) were female and median age was 44 years (min-max: 23-85); 89 (48.4%) were nursing professionals and 50 (27.2%) were doctors. Ninety-two (50.0%) presented comorbidity, with heart disease predominating (n=37; 40.2%). Of the 112 professionals with a record of case progression, 85 (75.9%) were cured and 27 (24.1%) died, 18 of whom were male. CONCLUSION The profile of COVID-19 hospitalized health workers is similar to that of the general population with regard to age and comorbidities, but different in relation to sex. The most affected areas were nursing and medicine.