Hospital Employee Health – January 1, 2021
January 1, 2021
View Archives Issues
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High Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccines Buoys Hopes
Although questions and caveats remain, preliminary reports of two new COVID-19 vaccines in the 90% to 95% effectiveness range have bolstered hopes that healthcare workers may soon be protected and potentially large portions of the public immunized in 2021.
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Occupational COVID-19 Exposures to Colleagues
Healthcare workers may be vigilant with personal protective equipment around COVID-19 patients, but inadvertently expose themselves to colleagues when they take breaks, socialize, and eat. Part of the problem is healthcare workers are experiencing PPE fatigue and may be tempted to removed gear for brief respites when possible.
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With Political Change, OSHA Infectious Disease Standard Appears Back in Play
In acknowledged underestimates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports tens of thousands of healthcare workers have acquired COVID-19 and hundreds have died. With CDC guidelines nonregulatory, politicized, and too often ignored during the pandemic, the question arises: Could an enforceable infectious disease standard by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have saved lives during the pandemic?
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15 Minutes of Infamy? CDC Warns of Cumulative Exposures
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised questions after the agency said clinically significant COVID-19 close-contact exposures could occur in intervals over time.
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COVID-19 Inflammatory Syndrome Emerging in Adults
Healthcare workers could be at risk of multisystem inflammatory syndrome linked to COVID-19, as the poorly understood condition first seen in children now is emerging in adults.
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Will COVID-19 Establish an Animal Reservoir?
Minks farmed for their fur are acquiring SARS-CoV-2 from humans and transmitting it back, a classic scenario for a possible genetic mutation that could create a mismatch with some vaccines under development, the World Health Organization reported.