TY - JOUR
T1 - Not sick enough to worry? "Influenza-like" symptoms and work-related behavior among healthcare workers and other professionals
T2 - Results of a global survey
AU - Tartari, Ermira
AU - Saris, Katja
AU - Kenters, Nikki
AU - Marimuthu, Kalisvar
AU - Widmer, Andreas
AU - Collignon, Peter
AU - Cheng, Vincent C.C.
AU - Wong, Shuk C.
AU - Gottlieb, Thomas
AU - Tambyah, Paul A.
AU - Perencevich, Eli
AU - Allegranzi, Benedetta
AU - Dramowski, Angela
AU - Edmond, Michael B.
AU - Voss, Andreas
AU - Alp, Emine
AU - Thu, Le Thi Anh
AU - Balkhy, Hanan
AU - Schweizer, Marin
AU - Damani, Nizam
AU - Debruyne, Lieve
AU - El-Sokkary, Rehab
AU - Ferguson, John
AU - Gastmeier, Petra
AU - Ghafur, Abdul
AU - Gikas, Achilleas
AU - Guzman, Manuel
AU - Hopman, Joost
AU - Hsueh, Po Ren
AU - Hu, Bije
AU - Kaku, Mitsuo
AU - van de Belt, Tom
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Tartari et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2020/5
Y1 - 2020/5
N2 - Background Healthcare workers (HCWs) and non-HCWs may contribute to the transmission of influenza-like illness (ILI) to colleagues and susceptible patients by working while sick (presenteeism). The present study aimed to explore the views and behavior of HCWs and non-HCWs towards the phenomenon of working while experiencing ILI. Methods The study was a cross-sectional online survey conducted between October 2018 and January 2019 to explore sickness presenteeism and the behaviour of HCWs and non-HCWs when experiencing ILI. The survey questionnaire was distributed to the members and international networks of the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC) Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Working Group, as well as via social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Twitter and IPC Blog. Results In total, 533 respondents from 49 countries participated (Europe 69.2%, Asia-Pacific 19.1%, the Americas 10.9%, and Africa 0.8%) representing 249 HCWs (46.7%) and 284 non-HCWs (53.2%). Overall, 312 (58.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 56.2-64.6) would continue to work when sick with ILI, with no variation between the two categories. Sixty-seven (26.9%) HCWs and forty-six (16.2%) non-HCWs would work with fever alone (p<0.01) Most HCWs (89.2-99.2%) and non-HCWs (80%-96.5%) would work with “minor” ILI symptoms, such as sore throat, sinus cold, fatigue, sneezing, runny nose, mild cough and reduced appetite. Conclusion A future strategy to successfully prevent the transmission of ILI in healthcare settings should address sick-leave policy management, in addition to encouraging the uptake of influenza vaccine.
AB - Background Healthcare workers (HCWs) and non-HCWs may contribute to the transmission of influenza-like illness (ILI) to colleagues and susceptible patients by working while sick (presenteeism). The present study aimed to explore the views and behavior of HCWs and non-HCWs towards the phenomenon of working while experiencing ILI. Methods The study was a cross-sectional online survey conducted between October 2018 and January 2019 to explore sickness presenteeism and the behaviour of HCWs and non-HCWs when experiencing ILI. The survey questionnaire was distributed to the members and international networks of the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC) Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Working Group, as well as via social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Twitter and IPC Blog. Results In total, 533 respondents from 49 countries participated (Europe 69.2%, Asia-Pacific 19.1%, the Americas 10.9%, and Africa 0.8%) representing 249 HCWs (46.7%) and 284 non-HCWs (53.2%). Overall, 312 (58.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 56.2-64.6) would continue to work when sick with ILI, with no variation between the two categories. Sixty-seven (26.9%) HCWs and forty-six (16.2%) non-HCWs would work with fever alone (p<0.01) Most HCWs (89.2-99.2%) and non-HCWs (80%-96.5%) would work with “minor” ILI symptoms, such as sore throat, sinus cold, fatigue, sneezing, runny nose, mild cough and reduced appetite. Conclusion A future strategy to successfully prevent the transmission of ILI in healthcare settings should address sick-leave policy management, in addition to encouraging the uptake of influenza vaccine.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084626292&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0232168
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0232168
M3 - Review article
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 15
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 5
M1 - e0232168
ER -