Nosocomial COVID-19 Incidence and Secondary Attack Rates among Patients of Tertiary Care Center, Zurich, Switzerland
Aline Wolfensberger, Verena Kufner, Maryam Zaheri, Marius Zeeb, Isabelle Nortes, Peter W. Schreiber, Miriam Vázquez, V. Schärer, Thomas Scheier, Stefan Schmutz, Elisabeth Probst, Dirk Saleschus, Michael Huber, Silvana K. Rampini, Walter Zingg
Abstract
S ince the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals have introduced infection prevention and control (IPC) measures to protect inpatients from SARS-CoV-2. Despite these precautions, healthcare-associated COVID-19 has affected a notable proportion of hospitalized patients (1-3). During the second and third waves of COVID-19 in Switzerland, an increasing number of patients with presymptomatic or asymptomatic COVID-19 exposed hospital roommates to SARS-CoV-2. We estimated the secondary attack rate (SAR) after exposure in a hospital in Zurich and identified risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 transmission.