Positivity of SARS-CoV-2, by RT-PCR among workers of a Public Hospital in the city of Santos, SP, Brazil 2020.

CASEIRO, M. M.; Mazzurana, M.; Barreiro, B.; Barbosa, E. C.; Barbosa, A. P.

Background: Infection with SARS-CoV-2, associated with severe respiratory symptoms, currently called COVID-19, represents one of the greatest health challenges of this century. Health professionals, as well as hospital workers, are the most vulnerable population for acquiring SARS-CoV-2 due to their greater proximity to sick patients, especially in specialized hospitals for the treatment of these patients. Study Design: We ran a questionnaire by all the employees of a Public Service Hospital specialised in COVID-19 treatment (1307 employees), in the municipality of Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, who presented some symptoms compatible with COVID-19 and positive results by RT-PCR, in Oropharynx Swab collection. The questionnaire collected socio-demographic information, as well as data related to the work areas where they were divided into two groups: Employees at higher risk or those who directly deal with patients (914 employees or 69.9%) and lower risk for employees in the administrative area (393 employees or 30.1%). Results: 211 (16.1%) of the Hospital's employees had to stop their work-related activities due to presenting positive RT-PCR. There were 39 (9.9%) positives in low risk areas and 172 (18.8%) positives in employees in high risk areas. Within the latter group, Nurses, Nursing Assistants and Doctors were the most frequently infected professionals. Regarding the symptoms of professionals positively diagnosed based on RT-PCR, the most frequent symptoms were body pain (83.4%); headache (80.6%); fever (57.8%) and dry cough (53.1%). Conclusion: A high proportion of workers in COVID-19 specialized hospitals was infected by the virus, despite all the protective measures adopted, showing the high transmission capacity of this virus. Stricter individual protection measures among employees must be adopted.