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.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, pandemic, health care workers, medical history, Otorhinolaryngological, 【초록키워드】 Treatment, Personal protective equipment, coronavirus, Diseases, risk, droplet, Symptom, Aerosols, Probability, Retrospective study, PCR testing, Asymptomatic, SARS-CoV-2 testing, Patient, Health care worker, SARS-CoV-2 RNA, molecular, PCR test, disease, upper respiratory tract, positive rate, diagnose, Clinical practice, Contact, COVID-19 symptom, HCW, acute respiratory syndrome, significant increase, clinical symptom, demographic data, observation period, positive, SARS-CoV-2 PCR test, Result, performed, transmitted, the patient, addition, replicate, determine, positive patient, Taking, diagnosis of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2-positive patient, the SARS-CoV-2, were assessed, 【제목키워드】 SARS-COV-2 infection, Symptom, disease, Typical,