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Objectives To estimate COVID-19 infections and deaths in healthcare workers (HCWs) from a global perspective during the early phases of the pandemic. Design Systematic review. Methods Two parallel searches of academic bibliographic databases and grey literature were undertaken until 8 May 2020. Governments were also contacted for further information where possible. There were no restrictions on language, information sources used, publication status and types of sources of evidence. The AACODS checklist or the National Institutes of Health study quality assessment tools were used to appraise each source of evidence. Outcome measures Publication characteristics, country-specific data points, COVID-19-specific data, demographics of affected HCWs and public health measures employed. Results A total of 152 888 infections and 1413 deaths were reported. Infections were mainly in women (71.6%, n=14 058) and nurses (38.6%, n=10 706), but deaths were mainly in men (70.8%, n=550) and doctors (51.4%, n=525). Limited data suggested that general practitioners and mental health nurses were the highest risk specialities for deaths. There were 37.2 deaths reported per 100 infections for HCWs aged over 70 years. Europe had the highest absolute numbers of reported infections (119 628) and deaths (712), but the Eastern Mediterranean region had the highest number of reported deaths per 100 infections (5.7). Conclusions COVID-19 infections and deaths among HCWs follow that of the general population around the world. The reasons for gender and specialty differences require further exploration, as do the low rates reported in Africa and India. Although physicians working in certain specialities may be considered high risk due to exposure to oronasal secretions, the risk to other specialities must not be underestimated. Elderly HCWs may require assigning to less risky settings such as telemedicine or administrative positions. Our pragmatic approach provides general trends, and highlights th

The clinical outcome of thyroidectomy may be influenced by among other things, the experience of the surgeon performing the procedure. Furthermore, auditing of any surgical procedure helps in monitoring the safety of the procedure in the hands of the operator. Objective This study is an audit of outcome of thyroidectomy performed by the author within the first 18 months of qualification from a local residency program. It aims to record the outcomes as baseline to facilitate future personal and institutional trends of thyroid disease, prevalent in the area. Setting Kapenguria District hospital in Kenya. The author was posted to this facility immediately after completion of surgical residency at the University of Nairobi. Design This was a retrospective audit from April 2007 to September 2008 Patients The patients who underwent thyroidectomy by the author from April 2007 to September 2008. The period was divided into three separate six month blocks of time (A-April to September 2007, B-October 2007 to March 2009, and C- April to September 2008. Main outcome measures Complications and length of stay. Results Thirty nine patients underwent thyroidectomy during this period. The most common type of goiter was multinodular goiter (69.2%, 27) while the most common type of surgery was total thyroidectomy (35.9%, 14). The number of days in hospital did not differ across the periods- 1.92 for period A, 1.75 for B and 1.07 for C. Two complications occurred during period A and were associated with total thyroidectomy Conclusion Subtotal and total thyroidectomy can be safely performed by general surgeons qualifying from our local training institutions. Institutional audits are important to document future improvements in outcomes.