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. 2021 Sep 15;62(3):E592-E597.
doi: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2021.62.3.1719. eCollection 2021 Sep.

Contact tracing, use of surgical masks, hand hygiene and social distancing represent a bundle of effective measures to control SARS-CoV-2 spreading among healthcare workers in a paediatric hospital

Daniela LA Masa  1 , Orietta Vianello  1 , Mauro Piccinini  1 , Marcello Mariani  2 , Giacomo Brisca  1 , Carolina Saffioti  1 , Alessio Mesini  1 , Eddi DI Marco  1 , Elio Castagnola  1 ; WITH THE COLLABORATION OF THE COVID-19 GASLINI TASK FORCE 1; WITH THE COLLABORATION OF THE COVID-19 GASLINI TASK FORCE
Collaborators, Affiliations

Contact tracing, use of surgical masks, hand hygiene and social distancing represent a bundle of effective measures to control SARS-CoV-2 spreading among healthcare workers in a paediatric hospital

Daniela LA Masa et al. J Prev Med Hyg. .

Abstract

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) Protection from virus exposure in children's hospital is a pivotal aspect of SARS-COV-2 pandemic control. Healthcare workers (HCW) could play an important role in viral infection in-hospital spread. Infection control measures were thus implemented to protect fragile patients and healthcare workers.We retrospectively described a HCW infectionscase-series due to SARS-CoV-2 from February 24th to July 31stat the IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini. Seven separate cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were observed among healthcare workers, with a total of 395 contacts, and 23 (6%) secondary case. A program of contact tracing and quarantine of SARS-CoV-2 positive HCW, screening of asymptomatic HCW, use of surgical masks, hand hygiene, social distancing and use of PPE in COVID-19 cases assistance prevented the spread of the virus to patients and blocked the diffusion within the hospital.

Keywords: Contact tracing; Hand hygiene; Paediatric hospital; SARS-CoV-2; Social distancing; Surgical masks.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Contact tracing in Italy, 2020.
Fig. S1.
Fig. S1.
Cases of COVID-19 in Italy in 2020.
Fig. S2.
Fig. S2.
Cases of COVID-19 in Liguria in 2020.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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