Nosocomial Transmission of Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Retrospective Study of 66 Hospital-acquired Cases in a London Teaching Hospital

Hannah M Rickman; Tommy Rampling; Karen Shaw; Gema Martinez-Garcia; Leila Hail; Pietro Coen; Maryam Shahmanesh; Gee Yen Shin; Eleni Nastouli; Catherine F Houlihan

doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa816

Nosocomial Transmission of Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Retrospective Study of 66 Hospital-acquired Cases in a London Teaching Hospital

Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Feb 16;72(4):690-693. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa816.

Authors

Hannah M Rickman¹, Tommy Rampling¹, Karen Shaw², Gema Martinez-Garcia², Leila Hail², Pietro Coen^{1

2}, Maryam Shahmanesh^{1

3

4}, Gee Yen Shin¹, Eleni Nastouli^{1

5}, Catherine F Houlihan^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Virology, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom.
² Department of Infection Prevention and Control, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom.
³ Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁴ Africa Health Research Institute, Durban, South Africa.
⁵ Department of Infection and Immunity, University College London, London, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can cause deadly healthcare-associated outbreaks. In a major London teaching hospital, 66 of 435 (15%) COVID-19 inpatient cases between 2 March and 12 April 2020 were definitely or probably hospital-acquired, through varied transmission routes. The case fatality was 36%. Nosocomial infection rates fell following comprehensive infection prevention and control measures.

Keywords: COVID-19; healthcare-associated infection; infection prevention and control; nosocomial; transmission.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Cross Infection* / epidemiology
Disease Outbreaks
Hospitals, Teaching
Humans
London / epidemiology
Retrospective Studies
SARS-CoV-2

Grants and funding

MC_PC_19082/MRC_/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom