The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in an Academic Department of Anaesthesiology

Abstract

Background Anaesthetists are frontline workers who perform aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) in enclosed environments which exposes them to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and increases their risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 infection and Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study describes the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Academic Department of Anaesthesiology of the University of the Witwatersrand prior to vaccination. Methods A cross-sectional, contextual, descriptive research design, using an anonymous, electronic questionnaire, was followed in the study. Consecutive and convenience sampling methods were used. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Descriptive statistics and linear correlations using R 4.0.2 for Windows 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc with interface R Studio Version 1.3.959 were used for data analysis. Results A total of 147 participants met the inclusion criteria. There were 90 (61.22%) females and 57 (38.78%) males. The mean age was 35.26 years for the 36 participants who tested positive (26.47%) for SARS-CoV-2. Hospital admission was required by 2.78% participants with COVID-19. Male participants had a higher prevalence of having SARS-CoV-2 infection (p = 0.045). There were no statistically significant associations between SARS-CoV-2 infection and pregnancy (p = 0.09), asthma (p = 0.11), autoimmune disease (p = 0.77), obesity (p = 0.9), diabetes (p = 0.96), hypertension (p = 0.9) and smoking (p = 0.69). Commonly reported COVID-19-like symptoms included fatigue (68.33%), headaches (61.67%) and myalgia (58.33%). Of the participants with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, 38.46% had reported traveling within 14 days of testing positive (p <0.001). iv Community-exposure to a person with SARS-CoV-2 was associated with participants contracting SARS-CoV-2 infection (p = 0.001). Conclusion AGPs are not a significant risk factor for anaesthetists in the context of work or community transmission of the virus. There was a statistically significant predisposition for contracting SARS-CoV-2 infection among males, participants who travelled and participants who had community-exposure to a SARS-CoV-2 infected person. HCWs need to be protected through this pandemic and measures need to be institutionalised to maintain the functioning of the healthcare system.