NEWS Medical doctors in infectious disease clinics were significantly more likely to be infected with the SARS-CoV2 virus than doctors with less patient contact. This is shown in a new study at Umeå University. One in five doctors working in infectious disease clinics were infected during the first and second waves of the pandemic in 2020.
Anne-Marie Fors Connolly, medical doctor and associate professor at Umeå University
ImageHans Karlssonan important contribution to improving future pandemic management
“The results highlight the importance of effective protective procedures and vaccination programmes for healthcare personnel during future pandemics. Our findings indicate that occupational exposure is an important risk factor for infection, says Anne-Marie Fors Connolly, medical doctor and associate professor at Umeå University and the study's senior author.
In a national study led by Umeå University, researchers have examined the risk of different clinical specialties among doctors testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, which caused COVID-19, during the pandemic. The study shows that infectious disease doctors, that is, those who worked in infectious disease clinics, were at the highest risk in 2020. This was especially the case during the first and second waves of the pandemic.
After infectious disease doctors, geriatric medicine and emergency medicine doctors were at the highest risk of infection compared to doctors with no to little patient contact. Among doctors who worked in infectious disease clinics, one in five, 20.2 percent, were infected in 2020. Among doctors with little patient contact, fewer than one in ten, 8.7 percent, were infected.
Vaccination clearly reduced the risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. The study shows that vaccination programmes for high-risk groups in healthcare are crucial for protecting personnel.
“Our result is an important contribution to improving future pandemic management and protective measures for healthcare personnel,” says Anne-Marie Fors Connolly.
The study included data from over 35,000 publicly employed doctors in Sweden between February 2020 and March 2022. Researchers analysed the association between clinical specialty and the risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2.
The study was published in the scientific journal Scandinavian Journal of Public Health.
The study was conducted using data from Swedish national registries and the Swedish Municipalities and data from Swedish healthcare (Regionen). It was funded by Region Västerbotten ALF-fonden, MIMS, Kempefonden, Hjärt-Lungfonden and Petrus and Augusta Hedlunds Stiftelse.
Osvaldo Fonseca-Rodriguez, Emma Tobjörk, Hanna Jerndal, Marie Eriksson, Anne-Marie Fors Connolly: Occupational-related risk of testing SARS-CoV-2 positive for publicly employed medical doctors in Sweden: A nationwide cohort study
https://doi.org/10.1177/14034948241304487
