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Nosocomial outbreak of COVID-19 pneumonia in Wuhan, China
- Source :
- The European Respiratory Journal, article-version (VoR) Version of Record
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- European Respiratory Society (ERS), 2020.
-
Abstract
- Background The novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), infected over 3300 healthcare workers in early 2020 in China. Little information is known about nosocomial infections of healthcare workers in the initial period. We analysed data from healthcare workers with nosocomial infections in Wuhan Union Hospital (Wuhan, China) and their family members. Methods We collected and analysed data on exposure history, illness timelines and epidemiological characteristics from 25 healthcare workers with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and two healthcare workers in whom COVID-19 was highly suspected, as well as 10 of their family members with COVID-19, between 5 January and 12 February 2020. The demographics and clinical features of the 35 laboratory-confirmed cases were investigated and viral RNA of 12 cases was sequenced and analysed. Results Nine clusters were found among the patients. All patients showed mild to moderate clinical manifestation and recovered without deterioration. The mean period of incubation was 4.5 days, the mean±sd clinical onset serial interval (COSI) was 5.2±3.2 days, and the median virus shedding time was 18.5 days. Complete genomic sequences of 12 different coronavirus strains demonstrated that the viral structure, with small irrelevant mutations, was stable in the transmission chains and showed remarkable traits of infectious traceability. Conclusions SARS-CoV-2 can be rapidly transmitted from person to person, regardless of whether they have symptoms, in both hospital settings and social activities, based on the short period of incubation and COSI. The public health service should take practical measures to curb the spread, including isolation of cases, tracing close contacts, and containment of severe epidemic areas. Besides this, healthcare workers should be alert during the epidemic and self-quarantine if self-suspected of infection.<br />SARS-CoV-2 can be rapidly transmitted from person to person in nosocomial and social settings, despite patients having no symptoms https://bit.ly/34BHtB5
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
0301 basic medicine
Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
China
medicine.medical_specialty
Pediatrics
Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional
Isolation (health care)
Health Personnel
Pneumonia, Viral
Infectious Disease
medicine.disease_cause
Disease Outbreaks
Infectious Disease Incubation Period
Betacoronavirus
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Epidemiology
Pandemic
Humans
Medicine
Family
030212 general & internal medicine
Pandemics
Aged
Coronavirus
Aged, 80 and over
Whole Genome Sequencing
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
SARS-CoV-2
business.industry
Transmission (medicine)
COVID-19
Original Articles
Length of Stay
Middle Aged
medicine.disease
Hospitals
Virus Shedding
Pneumonia
030104 developmental biology
Female
Coronavirus Infections
business
Serial interval
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 13993003 and 09031936
- Volume :
- 55
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- European Respiratory Journal
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....9da7146329afda926a6743a0923ea2cd