Frequency of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms in healthcare workers in a large health system

Early reports from around the world described COVID-19 as an illness characterized primarily by fever and cough.1,2 Due to limited testing capacity, testing access was often initially limited to individuals who presented with these symptoms. Because of the potential for HCWs to spread SARS-CoV-2 to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology 2021-11, Vol.42 (11), p.1403-1404
Main Authors: Malenfant, Jason H, Newhouse, Caitlin N, Kuo, Alice A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Disease transmission
Employees
Fever
Headaches
Infections
Letter to the Editor
Nose
Nursing
Pandemics
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
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Summary:Early reports from around the world described COVID-19 as an illness characterized primarily by fever and cough.1,2 Due to limited testing capacity, testing access was often initially limited to individuals who presented with these symptoms. Because of the potential for HCWs to spread SARS-CoV-2 to patients and coworkers, our health system opted for a low threshold for testing to better characterize the spectrum of disease and reduce inadvertent spread. [...]one-third of HCWs in our study did not report fever or cough as one of their symptoms, and these individuals would have been missed by more restrictive testing guidelines. Employee health programs should message that early COVID-19 can present with subtle viral symptoms, including those mimicking mild upper-respiratory infections or allergies, and that individuals should have a low threshold to present for evaluation and testing.
ISSN:0899-823X
1559-6834
DOI:10.1017/ice.2020.1297