Importance of wearing a mask continuously and appropriately regardless of the COVID 19 symptoms. Lessons from different mask-wearing styles among two healthcare personnel
The anecdotal report describes two examples of COVID-19-positive healthcare professionals (HCPs) who had worked as nurses during pre-symptomatic period and subsequently presented a mild clinical course of COVID-19. The nurses’ responsibilities were almost the same and worked in the general ward with...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1413867021000593 |
| _version_ | 1818880910052818944 |
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| author | Ansaeng Lee Young Jun Kim Ji-Hyun Cho Jae Hoon Lee |
| author_facet | Ansaeng Lee Young Jun Kim Ji-Hyun Cho Jae Hoon Lee |
| author_sort | Ansaeng Lee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The anecdotal report describes two examples of COVID-19-positive healthcare professionals (HCPs) who had worked as nurses during pre-symptomatic period and subsequently presented a mild clinical course of COVID-19. The nurses’ responsibilities were almost the same and worked in the general ward with no aerosol generating medical procedures. Two HCPs were expected to have similar infectiousness, but the number of secondary transmission by each HCP were different. Eleven close contacts from HCP1 were notified, and all of them tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. However, 13 of 35 close contacts of HCP2 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. While working, mask-wearing style differed between the two HCPs. HCP1 wore a KF94 mask appropriately and kept wearing it while working.HCP2 wore a surgical mask while working, but often pulled it down to her chin or removed it. It was strongly suspected that the difference of mask wearing contributed to the SARS-CoV-2 transmission. However, other factors such as talkative behavior, exposure time, ventilation in rooms, and hand hygiene performance rates, could also have affected the transmission of COVID-19.It is crucial that healthcare workers wear a mask adequately and continuously, and they maintain proper hand hygiene while working during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T14:53:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-31a0e961f7be48768642fd4d032f33bb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1413-8670 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T14:53:28Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-31a0e961f7be48768642fd4d032f33bb2022-12-21T20:16:47ZengElsevierBrazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases1413-86702021-05-01253101590Importance of wearing a mask continuously and appropriately regardless of the COVID 19 symptoms. Lessons from different mask-wearing styles among two healthcare personnelAnsaeng Lee0Young Jun Kim1Ji-Hyun Cho2Jae Hoon Lee3Department of Infection Control, Wonkwang University Hospital, Iksan, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Internal Medicine, Wonkwang University College of Medicine, Iksan, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Wonkwang University College of Medicine, Iksan, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Internal Medicine, Wonkwang University College of Medicine, Iksan, Republic of Korea; Corresponding author at: Jaehoon Lee, Wonkwang University College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Iksan.The anecdotal report describes two examples of COVID-19-positive healthcare professionals (HCPs) who had worked as nurses during pre-symptomatic period and subsequently presented a mild clinical course of COVID-19. The nurses’ responsibilities were almost the same and worked in the general ward with no aerosol generating medical procedures. Two HCPs were expected to have similar infectiousness, but the number of secondary transmission by each HCP were different. Eleven close contacts from HCP1 were notified, and all of them tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. However, 13 of 35 close contacts of HCP2 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. While working, mask-wearing style differed between the two HCPs. HCP1 wore a KF94 mask appropriately and kept wearing it while working.HCP2 wore a surgical mask while working, but often pulled it down to her chin or removed it. It was strongly suspected that the difference of mask wearing contributed to the SARS-CoV-2 transmission. However, other factors such as talkative behavior, exposure time, ventilation in rooms, and hand hygiene performance rates, could also have affected the transmission of COVID-19.It is crucial that healthcare workers wear a mask adequately and continuously, and they maintain proper hand hygiene while working during the COVID-19 pandemic.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1413867021000593MaskCOVID-19Healthcare personnel |
| spellingShingle | Ansaeng Lee Young Jun Kim Ji-Hyun Cho Jae Hoon Lee Importance of wearing a mask continuously and appropriately regardless of the COVID 19 symptoms. Lessons from different mask-wearing styles among two healthcare personnel Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases Mask COVID-19 Healthcare personnel |
| title | Importance of wearing a mask continuously and appropriately regardless of the COVID 19 symptoms. Lessons from different mask-wearing styles among two healthcare personnel |
| title_full | Importance of wearing a mask continuously and appropriately regardless of the COVID 19 symptoms. Lessons from different mask-wearing styles among two healthcare personnel |
| title_fullStr | Importance of wearing a mask continuously and appropriately regardless of the COVID 19 symptoms. Lessons from different mask-wearing styles among two healthcare personnel |
| title_full_unstemmed | Importance of wearing a mask continuously and appropriately regardless of the COVID 19 symptoms. Lessons from different mask-wearing styles among two healthcare personnel |
| title_short | Importance of wearing a mask continuously and appropriately regardless of the COVID 19 symptoms. Lessons from different mask-wearing styles among two healthcare personnel |
| title_sort | importance of wearing a mask continuously and appropriately regardless of the covid 19 symptoms lessons from different mask wearing styles among two healthcare personnel |
| topic | Mask COVID-19 Healthcare personnel |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1413867021000593 |
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