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We hypothesized that healthcare workers (HCWs) with high-risk exposures outside the healthcare system would have less asymptomatic coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease and more symptoms than those without such exposures.A longitudinal point prevalence study was conducted during August 17-September 4, 2020 (period 1) and during December 2-23, 2020 (period 2).Community based teaching health system.All HCWs were invited to participate. Among HCWs who acquired COVID-19, logistic regression models were used to evaluate the adjusted odds of asymptomatic disease using high-risk exposure outside the healthcare system as the explanatory variable. The number of symptoms between exposure groups was evaluated with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. The risk of seropositivity among all HCS by work exposure was evaluated during both periods.Survey and serological testing.Seroprevalence increased from 1.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2%-2.6%) to 13.7% (95% CI, 11.9%-15.5%) during the study. Only during period 2 did HCWs with the highest work exposure (versus low exposure) have an increased risk of seropositivity (risk difference [RD], 7%; 95% CI, 1%-13%). Participants who had a high-risk exposure outside of work (compared to those without) had a decreased probability of asymptomatic disease (odds ratio [OR], 0.38; 95% CI, 0.16-0.86) and demonstrated more symptoms (median 3 [IQR, 2-6] vs 1 [IQR, 0-4]; P = .001).Healthcare-acquired COVID-19 increases the probability of asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 disease compared to community-acquired disease. This finding suggests that infection prevention strategies (including masks and eye protection) may be mitigating inoculum and supports the variolation theory in COVID-19.
Background: To describe the thermal injuries related to methamphetamine (METH) production, characterize patients’ courses, and compare patients with matched controls and to the previously published series. Methods: Trauma registry data from January 2001 to November 2005 was retrospectively reviewed. METH patients were compared with other burn patients of similar age and total body surface area burn size for toxicology, injury extent, therapies, hospital course, outcomes, and hospital charges. The METH group was compared with the other published series of METH-related burn patients. Results: Twenty-nine patients (86.2% male) had METH-related burns. METH and control groups were similar in age, gender, predicted resuscitation fluid volume, and total body surface area. Mortality, mean length of stay, surgical procedures, and mean hospital charges did not differ significantly between the groups. Endotracheal intubation was required more frequently in METH patients (55.2% vs. 24.1%, p = 0.020). METH patients mean resuscitation volume was greater than controls (9,638 mL vs. 6,633 mL, p = 0.011), but neither group exceeded the volume predicted by the Parkland formula. More METH patients had inhalation injury (41.4% vs. 13.8%, p = 0.019). A METH patient was more likely to have a complication than his matched control (p = 0.049), and pneumonia was more frequent in the METH group (p = 0.005). Private insurance was less common in METH patients (10.3% vs. 58.6%, p < 0.001). Conclusions: METH patients suffer more frequent inhalation injuries, need greater initial fluid resuscitation volume, require endotracheal intubation more frequently, and are more likely to have complications than matched controls. This does not translate to greater mortality, longer length of stay, more surgical procedures, or significantly greater hospital charges. Few METH patients hold private insurance.