Course: Community COVID-19 Incidence and Health Care Personnel COVID-19 Seroprevalence
CME Credits: 1.00
Released: 2021-03-10
Health care personnel (HCP) have absorbed substantial risks of acquiring coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to their care of patients with COVID-19 infection throughout the pandemic. Nevertheless, because of robust health care infection prevention and control practices and policies that prevent patient-to-HCP transmission, it is possible that the greatest risk of COVID-19 transmission to HCP comes from exposure in their communities and, secondarily, between essential workers. Early in the pandemic, several studies demonstrated increased COVID-19 seroprevalence among HCP, but these studies did not account for the risk associated with community exposure among these essential workers. Jacobs et al add to the growing body of evidence that hospital infection prevention policies and personal protective equipment (PPE) can reliably protect against COVID-19. Their study evaluated COVID-19 seroprevalence in 24,749 HCP practicing in 4 health systems in 3 distinct geographic regions at various stages of the pandemic surge. HCP seroprevalence was significantly associated with the incidence of COVID-19 in the communities where HCP lived and exposure to a community contact with COVID-19 but not to numerous workplace factors, including job role, hospital work location, or care of patients with COVID-19.
Educational Objective
To identify the key insights or developments described in this article
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