Roxanne Weiß, Leon Guchlerner, Andreas German Loth, Martin Leinung, Sabine Wicker, Volkhard A. J. Kempf, Annemarie Berger, Holger Rabenau, Sandra Ciesek, Timo Stöver, Marc Diensthuber
- Purpose: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) replicates predominantly in the upper respiratory tract and is primarily transmitted by droplets and aerosols. Taking the medical history for typical COVID-19 symptoms and PCR-based SARS-CoV-2 testing have become established as screening procedures. The aim of this work was to describe the clinical appearance of SARS-CoV-2-PCR positive patients and to determine the SARS-CoV-2 contact risk for health care workers (HCW).
Methods: The retrospective study included n = 2283 SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests from n = 1725 patients with otorhinolaryngological (ORL) diseases performed from March to November 2020 prior to inpatient treatment. In addition, demographic data and medical history were assessed.
Results: n = 13 PCR tests (0.6%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. The positive rate showed a significant increase during the observation period (p < 0.01). None of the patients had clinical symptoms that led to a suspected diagnosis of COVID-19 before PCR testing. The patients were either asymptomatic (n = 4) or had symptoms that were interpreted as symptoms typical of the ORL disease or secondary diagnoses (n = 9).
Conclusion: The identification of SARS-CoV-2-positive patients is a considerable challenge in clinical practice. Our findings illustrate that taking a medical history alone is of limited value and cannot replace molecular SARS-CoV-2 testing, especially for patients with ORL diseases. Our data also demonstrate that there is a high probability of contact with SARS-CoV-2-positive patients in everyday clinical practice, so that the use of personal protective equipment, even in apparently “routine cases”, is highly recommended.
MetadatenVerfasserangaben: | Roxanne WeißGND, Leon GuchlernerGND, Andreas German LothORCiDGND, Martin LeinungORCiDGND, Sabine WickerORCiDGND, Volkhard A. J. KempfORCiDGND, Annemarie BergerGND, Holger RabenauORCiDGND, Sandra CiesekORCiDGND, Timo StöverGND, Marc DiensthuberORCiDGND |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-813145 |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-021-06726-4 |
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ISSN: | 1434-4726 |
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Titel des übergeordneten Werkes (Englisch): | European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology and head & neck |
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Verlag: | Berlin ; Heidelberg |
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Verlagsort: | Springer |
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Dokumentart: | Wissenschaftlicher Artikel |
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Sprache: | Englisch |
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Datum der Veröffentlichung (online): | 07.03.2021 |
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Datum der Erstveröffentlichung: | 07.03.2021 |
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Veröffentlichende Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
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Datum der Freischaltung: | 31.01.2024 |
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Freies Schlagwort / Tag: | COVID-19; Health care workers; Medical history; Otorhinolaryngological; Pandemic; SARS-CoV-2 |
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Jahrgang: | 278 |
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Ausgabe / Heft: | 9 |
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Seitenzahl: | 8 |
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Erste Seite: | 3551 |
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Letzte Seite: | 3558 |
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Bemerkung: | Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. |
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Institute: | Medizin |
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DDC-Klassifikation: | 6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit |
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Sammlungen: | Universitätspublikationen |
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Lizenz (Deutsch): | Creative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |
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