Transmission of SARS to healthcare workers. The experience of a Hong Kong ICU

Intensive Care Medicine
Charles D GomersallPatricia Leung

Abstract

To describe the extent and temporal pattern of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) to intensive care unit staff. Retrospective observational cohort study. University hospital intensive care unit, caring solely for patients with SARS or suspected to have SARS. Thirty-five doctors and 152 nurses and healthcare assistants who worked in the ICU during the SARS epidemic. Infection control measures designed to prevent transmission of disease to staff were implemented. Sixty-seven patients with SARS were admitted to the intensive care unit. Four nurses and one healthcare assistant contracted SARS, with three of these developing symptoms within 10 days of admission of the first patient with SARS. Doctors were exposed to patients with SARS for a median (IQR) of 284 (97-376) h, while nurses and healthcare assistants were exposed for a median (IQR) of 119 (57-166) h. The ICU did not meet international standards for physical space or ventilation. In an ICU in which infection control procedures are rigorously applied, the risk to staff of contracting SARS from patients is low, despite long staff exposure times and a sub-standard physical environment.

References

Apr 16, 2003·The New England Journal of Medicine·Nelson LeeJoseph J Y Sung
May 8, 2003·JAMA : the Journal of the American Medical Association·Christopher M BoothAllan S Detsky
Jan 24, 2004·Intensive Care Medicine·Charles D GomersallPatricia Leung
Mar 20, 2004·Emerging Infectious Diseases·Pierce K H ChowKhee-Chee Soo
Mar 20, 2004·Emerging Infectious Diseases·Mark LoebStephen D Walter
Mar 20, 2004·Emerging Infectious Diseases·Zhuang ShenAnne Schuchat
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Mar 20, 2004·Emerging Infectious Diseases·Joseph T F LauAugustine Cheng
Mar 20, 2004·Emerging Infectious Diseases·Michael D ChristianUNKNOWN SARS Investigation Team
Jul 1, 2004·Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America·Margaret IpJohn S Tam

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Citations

Feb 6, 2010·Intensive Care Medicine·Charles L SprungUNKNOWN European Society of Intensive Care Medicine Task Force for Intensive Care Unit Triage during an Influenza Epidemic or Mass D
Mar 23, 2010·Intensive Care Medicine·Bruce L TaylorUNKNOWN European Society of Intensive Care Medicine's Task Force for intensive care unit triage during an influenza epidemic or mass
Jul 19, 2011·Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America·Lydia N Drumright, Alison H Holmes
Apr 7, 2007·Critical Care Medicine·Yaseen ArabiZiad A Memish
Apr 15, 2014·Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness·Dagan SchwartzYaron Bar-Dayan
May 16, 2014·Intensive Care Medicine·Gavin M Joynt, Wong Wai Tat
Mar 10, 2009·Critical Care Clinics·Saqib I Dara, J Christopher Farmer
Mar 22, 2014·The Journal of Hospital Infection·G S DavisL N Drumright
Dec 24, 2010·International Journal of Infectious Diseases : IJID : Official Publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases·Michael A Horseman, Salim Surani
Nov 3, 2007·Current Opinion in Critical Care·Charles D GomersallBruce L Taylor
Jan 12, 2011·Journal of Intensive Care Medicine·Mary-Elise ManuellRichard T Ellison
Jul 8, 2011·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Tom JeffersonJohn M Conly
Sep 3, 2013·Current Opinion in Critical Care·Lucinda E K Gabriel, Steve A R Webb
May 13, 2020·Critical Care : the Official Journal of the Critical Care Forum·Ken Junyang GohCarrie Kah-Lai Leong
Nov 21, 2020·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Tom JeffersonJohn M Conly
Dec 15, 2020·Current Opinion in Critical Care·Gaetano FlorioAntonio Pesenti

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