Elsevier

Maturitas

Volume 149, July 2021, Pages 34-36
Maturitas

Lessons learnt from a nosocomial COVID-19 outbreak in a geriatric acute care ward with a high attack rate

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2021.05.001Get rights and content

Highlights

  • COVID-19 spread in geriatric acute wards is rapid in patients and healthcare workers.

  • Repeated testing can help prevent nosocomial COVID-19 in older adults.

  • Good practices in infection control are paramount to prevent nosocomial COVID-19.

Abstract

Nosocomial COVID-19 in older patients has a high mortality rate. We describe an outbreak of COVID-19 in a geriatric acute care unit (GACU) in March/April 2020 and the lessons learnt regarding prevention. Thirty-six patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 during that 2-month period, in France's “first wave” of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Thirty (83.3%) were considered nosocomial. Attributable mortality reached 33.3% in these patients. Healthcare workers (HCW) were not spared, with an overall attack rate of 36.8%, but the rate was especially high among nurse assistants (68.2%). Repeated testing, single rooms, hand hygiene, and good use of personal protective equipment are paramount in GACUs to prevent in-hospital COVID-19 outbreaks.

Keywords

COVID-19
Sars-CoV-2
Older adults
outbreak
Infection control

Cited by (0)

View Abstract