Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) poses an important occupational health risk to health workers (HWs) that has attracted global scrutiny. To date, several thousand HWs globally have been reported as infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus that causes the disease. It is therefore a public health priority for policymakers to understand risk factors for this vulnerable group to avert occupational transmission. A rapid review was carried out on 20 April 2020 on Covid-19 risk factors among HWs in PubMed, Google Scholar, and EBSCOHost Web (Academic Search Complete, CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE with Full Text, CINAHL with Full Text, APA PsycInfo, Health Source-Consumer Edition, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition) and WHO Global Database. We also searched for preprints on the medRxiv database. We searched for reports, reviews, and primary observational studies (case control, case cross-over, cross-sectional, and cohort). The review included studies conducted among HWs with Covid-19 that reported risk factors irrespective of their sample size. Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Lack of personal protective equipment, exposure to infected patients, work overload, poor infection control, and preexisting medical conditions were identified as risk factors for Covid-19 among HWs. In the context of Covid-19, HWs face an unprecedented occupational risk of morbidity and mortality. There is need for rapid development of sustainable measures that protect HWs from the pandemic.

COVID-19 Risk Factors Among Health Workers: A Rapid Review

COVID-19 in the radiology department: What radiographers need to know.

A characteristic chest radiographic appearance with high specificity and positive predictive value for COVID-19 infection in the setting of pandemic spread is described.

https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/pdf/10.1148/ryct.2020200280

A Characteristic Chest Radiographic Pattern in the Setting of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Integration of imaging and clinical parameters could improve the stratification of COVID-19 patients on emergency department (ED) admission. We aimed to assess the extent of COVID-19 pulmonary abnormalities on chest x-ray (CXR) using a semiquantitative severity score, correlating it with clinical data and testing its interobserver agreement. From February 22 to April 8, 2020, 926 consecutive patients referring to ED of two institutions in Northern Italy for suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection were reviewed. Patients with reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction positive for SARS-CoV-2 and CXR images on ED admission were included (295 patients, median age 69 years, 199 males). Five readers independently and blindly reviewed all CXRs, rating pulmonary parenchymal involvement using a 0–3 semiquantitative score in 1-point increments on 6 lung zones (range 0–18). Interobserver agreement was assessed with weighted Cohen’s κ, correlations between median CXR score and clinical data with Spearman’s ρ, and the Mann-Whitney U test. Median score showed negative correlation with SpO2 (ρ = -0.242, p < 0.001), positive correlation with white cell count (ρ = 0.277, p < 0.001), lactate dehydrogenase (ρ = 0.308, p < 0.001), and C-reactive protein (ρ = 0.367, p < 0.001), being significantly higher in subsequently dead patients (p = 0.003). Considering overall scores, readers’ pairings yielded moderate (κ = 0.449, p < 0.001) to almost perfect interobserver agreement (κ = 0.872, p < 0.001), with better interobserver agreement between readers of centre 2 (up to κ = 0.872, p < 0.001) than centre 1 (κ = 0.764, p < 0.001). Proposed CXR pulmonary severity score in COVID-19 showed moderate to almost perfect interobserver agreement and significant but weak correlations with clinical parameters, potentially furthering CXR integration in patients’ stratification.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s41747-020-00195-w.pdf

Chest x-ray severity score in COVID-19 patients on emergency department admission: a two-centre study.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA residue on object surfaces in nucleic acid testing laboratory using droplet digital PCR.

Infection Control against COVID-19 in Departments of Radiology.

Objectives:To improve the infection control and prevention practices against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in radiology department through loophole identification and providing rectifying mea...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0846537120916852

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Papers

Infection Control against COVID-19 in Departments of Radiology.

Loopholes in Current Infection Control and Prevention Practices Against COVID-19 in Radiology Department and Improvement Suggestions.