1. An Epidemiologic Study of COVID-19 Patients in a State Psychiatric Hospital: High Penetrance With Early CDC Guidelines
- Author
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Patricia Kissinger, Patrick McCrossen, Di Tian, Allison Smither, Amy J. Mikolajewski, Zhen Lin, John W. Thompson, and Govind Datta Chamarthi
- Subjects
Hospitals, Psychiatric ,Male ,Pediatrics ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,Asymptomatic ,Hospitals, State ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,Random Allocation ,0302 clinical medicine ,COVID-19 Testing ,Epidemiology ,Psychiatric hospital ,Infection control ,Medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Statistics & numerical data ,Asymptomatic Infections ,Cross Infection ,Infection Control ,Inpatients ,business.industry ,Transmission (medicine) ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Mental Disorders ,COVID-19 ,Middle Aged ,Penetrance ,United States ,030227 psychiatry ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Epidemiologic Studies ,Practice Guidelines as Topic ,Female ,medicine.symptom ,business - Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the transmission of COVID-19 in a U.S. state psychiatric hospital setting. METHODS: Symptomatic and asymptomatic patients were tested throughout a large psychiatric hospital to determine penetrance. The hospital followed initial Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. RESULTS: Seventy-eight percent (N=51 of 65) of tested patients in the building where the first positive patient was housed (building zero) tested positive for COVID-19. Eighty-eight percent (N=14 of 16) of tested asymptomatic patients in building zero were positive, compared with 12% (N=6 of 51) of randomly selected asymptomatic patients in a sample from the rest of the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: A high percentage of patients can become positive for COVID-19 despite following initial CDC guidelines. As such, use of masks by all patients in close-quarter settings prior to the first positive case appears warranted. Recent CDC guidelines align with this strategy.
- Published
- 2020