RESEARCH ARTICLE
SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Clinical Manifestations and Risk Factors among Healthcare Workers In Palestine
Abdallah Damin Abukhalil1, *, Hani A. Naseef1, Noor Zayed1, Rolla Ali1, Zeina Bazzar1, Ni'meh Al-Shami1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2022Volume: 15
E-location ID: e187494452211140
Publisher ID: e187494452211140
DOI: 10.2174/18749445-v15-e221117-2022-80
Article History:
Received Date: 30/5/2022Revision Received Date: 11/10/2022
Acceptance Date: 19/10/2022
Electronic publication date: 30/12/2022
Collection year: 2022
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
Healthcare workers are the White army compacted the COVID-19 epidemic, and reports worldwide have shown an increase in SARS-CoV-2 among healthcare workers due to their direct interactions with infected patients. This study aimed to examine the clinical manifestations and risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers in Palestine and offer recommendations to ensure health workers' safety and adopt workplace safety policies.
Methods:
This questionnaire-based cross-sectional observational study was conducted using an online questionnaire to collect information about SARS-CoV-2 transmission, signs, symptoms, and treatment reported by healthcare workers. Furthermore, we explored policies, protocols, and practices that make health workers vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Results:
A total of 389 healthcare workers were included, 216 (55.5%) were exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, 173 (44.5%) were infected with the virus, and the prevalence of hospitalization was 16%. The most commonly reported symptoms are fatigue, weakness, and muscle pain. Female healthcare workers experienced a significantly extended duration of symptoms than male workers. Direct contact (working less than 1.5 m) with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients and lack of COVID-19 and PPE training were risk factors for COVID-19 infection among HCWs.
Conclusion:
The healthcare system must ensure a safe work environment and adopt policies and procedures to ensure HCW safety, proper training, and resource availability to cope with crises.
