RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Infection and mortality of healthcare workers worldwide from COVID-19: a systematic review
JF BMJ Global Health
JO BMJ Global Health
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e003097
DO 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003097
VO 5
IS 12
A1 Soham Bandyopadhyay
A1 Ronnie E Baticulon
A1 Murtaza Kadhum
A1 Muath Alser
A1 Daniel K Ojuka
A1 Yara Badereddin
A1 Archith Kamath
A1 Sai Arathi Parepalli
A1 Grace Brown
A1 Sara Iharchane
A1 Sofia Gandino
A1 Zara Markovic-Obiago
A1 Samuel Scott
A1 Emery Manirambona
A1 Asif Machhada
A1 Aditi Aggarwal
A1 Lydia Benazaize
A1 Mina Ibrahim
A1 David Kim
A1 Isabel Tol
A1 Elliott H Taylor
A1 Alexandra Knighton
A1 Dorothy Bbaale
A1 Duha Jasim
A1 Heba Alghoul
A1 Henna Reddy
A1 Hibatullah Abuelgasim
A1 Kirandeep Saini
A1 Alicia Sigler
A1 Leenah Abuelgasim
A1 Mario Moran-Romero
A1 Mary Kumarendran
A1 Najlaa Abu Jamie
A1 Omaima Ali
A1 Raghav Sudarshan
A1 Riley Dean
A1 Rumi Kisyova
A1 Sonam Kelzang
A1 Sophie Roche
A1 Tazin Ahsan
A1 Yethrib Mohamed
A1 Andile Maqhawe Dube
A1 Grace Paida Gwini
A1 Rashidah Gwokyala
A1 Robin Brown
A1 Mohammad Rabiul Karim Khan Papon
A1 Zoe Li
A1 Salvador Sun Ruzats
A1 Somy Charuvila
A1 Noel Peter
A1 Khalil Khalidy
A1 Nkosikhona Moyo
A1 Osaid Alser
A1 Arielis Solano
A1 Eduardo Robles-Perez
A1 Aiman Tariq
A1 Mariam Gaddah
A1 Spyros Kolovos
A1 Faith C Muchemwa
A1 Abdullah Saleh
A1 Amanda Gosman
A1 Rafael Pinedo-Villanueva
A1 Anant Jani
A1 Roba Khundkar
YR 2020
UL http://gh.bmj.com/content/5/12/e003097.abstract
AB Objectives To estimate COVID-19 infections and deaths in healthcare workers (HCWs) from a global perspective during the early phases of the pandemic.Design Systematic review.Methods Two parallel searches of academic bibliographic databases and grey literature were undertaken until 8 May 2020. Governments were also contacted for further information where possible. There were no restrictions on language, information sources used, publication status and types of sources of evidence. The AACODS checklist or the National Institutes of Health study quality assessment tools were used to appraise each source of evidence.Outcome measures Publication characteristics, country-specific data points, COVID-19-specific data, demographics of affected HCWs and public health measures employed.Results A total of 152 888 infections and 1413 deaths were reported. Infections were mainly in women (71.6%, n=14 058) and nurses (38.6%, n=10 706), but deaths were mainly in men (70.8%, n=550) and doctors (51.4%, n=525). Limited data suggested that general practitioners and mental health nurses were the highest risk specialities for deaths. There were 37.2 deaths reported per 100 infections for HCWs aged over 70 years. Europe had the highest absolute numbers of reported infections (119 628) and deaths (712), but the Eastern Mediterranean region had the highest number of reported deaths per 100 infections (5.7).Conclusions COVID-19 infections and deaths among HCWs follow that of the general population around the world. The reasons for gender and specialty differences require further exploration, as do the low rates reported in Africa and India. Although physicians working in certain specialities may be considered high risk due to exposure to oronasal secretions, the risk to other specialities must not be underestimated. Elderly HCWs may require assigning to less risky settings such as telemedicine or administrative positions. Our pragmatic approach provides general trends, and highlights the need for universal guidelines for testing and reporting of infections in HCWs.