Take-home kits to detect respiratory viruses among healthcare personnel: Lessons learned from a cluster randomized clinical trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Health care personnel (HCP) working in outpatient settings routinely interact with patients with acute respiratory illnesses. Absenteeism following symptom development and lack of staff trained to obtain samples limit efforts to identify pathogens among infected HCP.

Methods

The Respiratory Protection Effectiveness Clinical Trial assessed respiratory infection incidence among HCP between 2011 and 2015. Research assistants obtained anterior nasal and oropharyngeal swabs from HCP in the workplace following development of respiratory illness symptoms and randomly while asymptomatic. Participants received take-home kits to self-collect swabs when absent from work. Samples mailed to a central laboratory were tested for respiratory viruses by reverse transcription polym

SUBMITTER: Los J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7874979 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature