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. 2022 Apr 10;39(6):104.
doi: 10.1007/s12032-022-01700-4.

Should routine risk reduction procedures for the prevention and control of pandemics become a standard in all oncological outpatient clinics? The prospective COVID-19 cohort study: protect-CoV

Theres Fey #  1 , Nicole Erickson #  2 , Arndt Stahler  3 , Maximilian Muenchhoff  4   5 , Oliver T Keppler  4   5 , Katharina Ruehlmann  1 , Gabriele Krauss-Pfeiffer  1 , Hannah Steinberg  1 , Alexander Graf  6 , Stefan Krebs  6 , Helmut Blum  6 , Elham Khatamzas  7 , Sarah Seynstahl  1 , Jozefina Casuscelli  8 , Daniel Markwardt  9 , Roswitha Forstpointner  10 , Timo Schinköthe  11 , Michael von Bergwelt-Baildon  10 , Volker Heinemann  1   10
Affiliations

Should routine risk reduction procedures for the prevention and control of pandemics become a standard in all oncological outpatient clinics? The prospective COVID-19 cohort study: protect-CoV

Theres Fey et al. Med Oncol. .

Abstract

Limited knowledge exists on the effectiveness of preventive preparedness plans for the care of outpatient cancer patients during epidemics or pandemics. To ensure adequate, timely and continuous clinical care for this highly vulnerable population, we propose the establishment of preventive standard safety protocols providing effective early phase identification of outbreaks at outpatient cancer facilities and communicating adapted standards of care. The prospective cohort study Protect-CoV conducted at the LMU Klinikum from mid-March to June 2020 investigated the effectiveness of a rapid, proactive and methodical response to protect patients and interrupt SARS-CoV-2 transmission chains during the first pandemic wave. The implemented measures reduced the risk of infection of individual cancer patients and ensured safe adjunctive infusion therapy in an outpatient setting during the early COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the immediate implementation of standard hygiene procedures, our results underscore the importance of routine PCR testing for the identification of asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic COVID-19 cases and immediate tracing of positive cases and their contacts. While more prospective controlled studies are needed to confirm these results, our study illustrates the importance of including preventative testing and tracing measures in the standard risk reduction procedures at all out patient cancer centers.

Keywords: Cancer; Covid-19; Immunology; Outpatient; Pandemic; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

AS received honoraria from Roche, Taiho Pharmaceutical and Servier and expenses for travel and accommodations from Roche, Merck KGaA, Amgen, Pfizer and Lilly Oncology. N.E. has received honoraria for participating in symposia and/or advisory boards for CSL Behring, Fresenius, Baxter, Havas Lynx Group, Janssen-Cliag, Nutricia and GHD and received funds from grants or contracts with the Techniker Health Insurance, the non-profit organization Eat what you need e.V. and Klarigo Publishers. Von B.B received honoraria from AMGEN, MSD Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Roche, KITE/Gilead, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Astellas, Mologen and Miltenyi. H.B., A.G., S.K., have received grants from the Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment and Health, and from the Molecular Genetic Surveillance Network in Bavaria for the identification of SAR-CoV-2: Bay-VOC (variants of concern). V. H. has received honoraria for participating in symposia and advisory boards for Merck, Amgen, Roche, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Bayer, Pfizer, Sirtex Medical, SERVIER, MSD, Bristol-Myers Squibb, MSD Oncology, Novartis, Pierre Fabre. He has also received research funding from Merk, Amgen, Roche, Sanofi, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sirtex Medical, and Bayer and travel support from Merck, Roche, Sirtex Medical, Amgen, SERVIER, Shire, MSD and Bristol-Myers Squibb. None of these activities were related to the content of this article. T. Schinköthe is owner and Managing Director of CANKADO and owns stock in the company. All remaining authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a Overview of the COVID-19 outbreak and contact tracing. b Prevent-Covid-19 protocol
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Virus genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of positive COVID-19 tests
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Symptoms experienced among affected staff
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Total average duration of leave required among staff affected by COVID-19
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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