A cluster of health care workers with COVID-19 pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2

Background: The current outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Wuhan, Hubei, China, spreads across national and international borders. Methods: We prospectively collected medical records of 14 health care workers (HCWs) who were infected with SARS-CoV-2, in neurosurgery department of Wuhan Union Hospital, China. Results: Among the 14 HCWs, 12 were conformed cases, the other 2 were suspected cases. Most of them were either exposed to the two index patients or infected coworkers, without knowing they were COVID-19 patients. There were 4 male and 10 female infected HCWs in this cohort, whose mean age was 36 years (SD, 6 years). The main symptoms included myalgia or fatigue (100%), fever (86%) and dry cough (71%). On admission, 79% of infected HCWs showed leucopenia and 43% lymphopenia. Reduced complement C3 could be seen in 57% of the infected HCWs and IL-6 was significantly elevated in 86% of them. The proportion of lymphocytes subsets, concentrations of immunoglobulins, complement C4, IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, TNF-a and IFN-g were within normal range in these 14 infected HCWs. The most frequent findings on pulmonary computed tomographic images were bilateral multifocal ground-glass opacifications (86%).

Automated summary

Most of the 14 infected HCWs in the neurosurgery department of Wuhan Union Hospital were exposed to index patients or infected coworkers unknowingly. They mainly presented with symptoms such as myalgia or fatigue, fever, and dry cough. Blood tests showed abnormalities in white blood cell count and certain immune markers, while pulmonary CT scans commonly showed bilateral multifocal ground-glass opacifications.