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

Hélène Cormier; Antoine Brangier; Caroline Lefeuvre; Marine Asfar; Cédric Annweiler; Clément Legeay

doi:10.1016/j.maturitas.2021.05.001

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

Maturitas. 2021 Jul:149:34-36. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2021.05.001. Epub 2021 May 21.

Authors

Hélène Cormier¹, Antoine Brangier², Caroline Lefeuvre³, Marine Asfar², Cédric Annweiler⁴, Clément Legeay⁵

Affiliations

¹ Infection Control and Prevention Unit - University Hospital, Angers, France.
² Department of Geriatric Medicine and Memory Clinic - University Hospital, Angers France.
³ Virology Department, Angers University Hospital, HIFIH Laboratory EA 3859, LUNAM, Angers, France.
⁴ Department of Geriatric Medicine and Memory Clinic, Research Center on Autonomy and Longevity, University Hospital, Angers, France, UPRES EA 4638, University of Angers, Angers, France, Robarts Research Institute, Department of Medical Biophysics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
⁵ Infection Control and Prevention Unit - University Hospital, Angers, France. Electronic address: clement.legeay@chu-angers.fr.

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; Infection control; Older adults; Sars-CoV-2; outbreak.

MeSH terms

Aged, 80 and over
COVID-19 / epidemiology
COVID-19 / prevention & control
COVID-19 / transmission*
COVID-19 / virology
Cross Infection / epidemiology
Cross Infection / prevention & control
Cross Infection / transmission
Cross Infection / virology*
Female
Health Personnel / standards*
Hospitals / standards*
Humans
Infection Control / organization & administration*
Infection Control / standards
Male
Personal Protective Equipment / statistics & numerical data*
SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification*