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SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19

Coronavirus Collection - Over 1.3m downloads
Contents

Page 23 of 30

Concise Communication

State of the Pandemic Commentary

Concise Communication

Letter to the Editor

Original Article

  • The utility of chest computed tomography (CT) and RT-PCR screening of asymptomatic patients for SARS-CoV-2 prior to semiurgent or urgent hospital procedures

  • Part of:
  • Aditya S. Shah, Lara A. Walkoff, Ronald S. Kuzo, Matthew R. Callstrom, Michael J. Brown, Michael L. Kendrick, Bradly J. Narr, Elie Berbari
  • Journal:
    Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology / Volume 41 / Issue 12 / December 2020
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    16 July 2020, pp. 1375-1377
    • Article
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  • Objective:

    Presently, evidence guiding clinicians on the optimal approach to safely screen patients for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to a nonemergent hospital procedure is scarce. In this report, we describe our experience in screening for SARS-CoV-2 prior to semiurgent and urgent hospital procedures.

    Design:

    Retrospective case series.

    Setting:

    A single tertiary-care medical center.

    Participants:

    Our study cohort included patients ≥18 years of age who had semiurgent or urgent hospital procedures or surgeries.

    Methods:

    Overall, 625 patients were screened for SARS-CoV-2 using a combination of phone questionnaire (7 days prior to the anticipated procedure), RT-PCR and chest computed tomography (CT) between March 1, 2020, and April 30, 2020.

    Results:

    Of the 625 patients, 520 scans (83.2%) were interpreted as normal; 1 (0.16%) had typical features of COVID-19; 18 scans (2.88%) had indeterminate features of COVID-19; and 86 (13.76%) had atypical features of COVID-19. In total, 640 RT-PCRs were performed, with 1 positive result (0.15%) in a patient with a CT scan that yielded an atypical finding. Of the 18 patients with chest CTs categorized as indeterminate, 5 underwent repeat negative RT-PCR nasopharyngeal swab 1 week after their initial swab. Also, 1 patient with a chest CT categorized as typical had a follow-up repeat negative RT-PCR, indicating that the chest CT was likely a false positive. After surgery, none of the patients developed signs or symptoms suspicious of COVID-19 that would indicate the need for a repeated RT-PCR or CT scan.

    Conclusion:

    In our experience, chest CT scanning did not prove provide valuable information in detecting asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in our low-prevalence population.

Research Brief

Letter to the Editor

Original Article

  • Investigation of nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 transmission from two patients to healthcare workers identifies close contact but not airborne transmission events

  • Part of:
  • Derek J. Bays, Minh-Vu H. Nguyen, Stuart H. Cohen, Sarah Waldman, Carla S. Martin, George R. Thompson III, Christian Sandrock, Joel Tourtellotte, Janelle Vu Pugashetti, Chinh Phan, Hien H. Nguyen, Gregory Y. Warner, Bennett H. Penn
  • Journal:
    Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology / Volume 42 / Issue 9 / September 2021
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    03 July 2020, pp. 1046-1052
    • Article
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  • Objective:

    To describe the pattern of transmission of severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during 2 nosocomial outbreaks of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with regard to the possibility of airborne transmission.

    Design:

    Contact investigations with active case finding were used to assess the pattern of spread from 2 COVID-19 index patients.

    Setting:

    A community hospital and university medical center in the United States, in February and March, 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Patients:

    Two index patients and 421 exposed healthcare workers.

    Methods:

    Exposed healthcare workers (HCWs) were identified by analyzing the electronic medical record (EMR) and conducting active case finding in combination with structured interviews. Healthcare coworkers (HCWs) were tested for COVID-19 by obtaining oropharyngeal/nasopharyngeal specimens, and RT-PCR testing was used to detect SARS-CoV-2.

    Results:

    Two separate index patients were admitted in February and March 2020, without initial suspicion for COVID-19 and without contact or droplet precautions in place; both patients underwent several aerosol-generating procedures in this context. In total, 421 HCWs were exposed in total, and the results of the case contact investigations identified 8 secondary infections in HCWs. In all 8 cases, the HCWs had close contact with the index patients without sufficient personal protective equipment. Importantly, despite multiple aerosol-generating procedures, there was no evidence of airborne transmission.

    Conclusion:

    These observations suggest that, at least in a healthcare setting, most SARS-CoV-2 transmission is likely to take place during close contact with infected patients through respiratory droplets, rather than by long-distance airborne transmission.

Letter to the Editor

State of the Pandemic Commentary

Commentary

Research Brief

Letter to the Editor

Research Brief

Letter to the Editor

Page 23 of 30