Elsevier

IJID Regions

Volume 5, December 2022, Pages 54-61
IJID Regions

COVID-19 hospital admissions and mortality among healthcare workers in South Africa, 2020–2021

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijregi.2022.08.014Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • HCW admissions were higher in wave 1 (48.6% of total HCW admissions) compared with wave 2 (32.0%).

  • HCWs were less likely to have mortality as an outcome (aOR 0.6; 95% CI 0.5–0.7).

  • Age, race, wave, sector, and province were risk factors for in-hospital mortality.

  • Weekly hospital admissions increased the risk of COVID-19 mortality for HCWs.

ABSTRACT

Objectives

This study describes the characteristics of admitted HCWs reported to the DATCOV surveillance system, and the factors associated with in-hospital mortality in South African HCWs.

Methods

Data from March 5, 2020 to April 30, 2021 were obtained from DATCOV, a national hospital surveillance system monitoring COVID-19 admissions in South Africa. Characteristics of HCWs were compared with those of non-HCWs. Furthermore, a logistic regression model was used to assess factors associated with in-hospital mortality among HCWs.

Results

In total, there were 169 678 confirmed COVID-19 admissions, of which 6364 (3.8%) were HCWs. More of these HCW admissions were accounted for in wave 1 (48.6%; n = 3095) than in wave 2 (32.0%; n = 2036). Admitted HCWs were less likely to be male (28.2%; n = 1791) (aOR 0.3; 95% CI 0.3–0.4), in the 50–59 age group (33.1%; n = 2103) (aOR 1.4; 95% CI 1.1–1.8), or accessing the private health sector (63.3%; n = 4030) (aOR 1.3; 95% CI 1.1–1.5). Age, comorbidities, race, wave, province, and sector were significant risk factors for COVID-19-related mortality.

Conclusion

The trends in cases showed a decline in HCW admissions in wave 2 compared with wave 1. Acquired SARS-COV-2 immunity from prior infection may have been a reason for reduced admissions and mortality of HCWs despite the more transmissible and more severe beta variant in wave 2.

Key words

SARS-CoV-2
hospital surveillance
healthcare workers
hospital admissions
in-hospital mortality

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