Risk of hospital admission with coronavirus disease 2019 in healthcare workers and their households: nationwide linkage cohort study
Scottish study found patient facing healthcare workers, compared with non-patient facing healthcare workers, were at higher risk (HR 3.30, 2.13 to 5.13), as were household members of patient facing healthcare workers (1.79, 1.10 to 2.91) of admission with covid-19.
Source:
British Medical Journal
SPS commentary:
Researchers note that healthcare workers and their households contributed a sixth of covid-19 cases admitted to hospital, although the absolute risk of admission was low overall.
According to an editorial, previous work reported similar risks for covid-19 among healthcare workers, but this new study provides the most comprehensive estimate to date of the risk of more serious disease, and it is the first to report risk to household members. It notes that the reasons for the observed increase in risk—likely multifactorial—need to be explored to help to guide safety improvements in healthcare settings. It adds that most studies to date, including the current one, have evaluated risks to healthcare workers during the early phases of the pandemic, but advances since then may have reduced the risks, although further confirmatory studies are needed. It calls for high quality prospective studies evaluating new prevention and control practices to guide improvements in approach to protecting healthcare workers and their families, including those from ethnic minority communities who have the highest risks of infection and poor outcomes, widening workplace inequality.