Strict Adherence to Anti-Epidemic Measures Prevents ICU Staff from SARS-Cov2 Infection

Abstract

During the first wave of the SARS Cov-2 virus pandemic, we faced a rapidly spreading infection in the Czech Republic. The lack of experience with a pandemic of such magnitude and the inconsistent information on the situation in China and Italy meant that we were forced to introduce an effective anti-epidemic measures in a very short period to protect our patients. One of the key measures that significantly contributed to the successful management of the first wave of the pandemic was to prevent the spread among healthcare professionals who directly cared for patients with active infection. During and after the first wave of the pandemic, we conducted a local observational study to assess the infection rate in ICU health care professionals who were in direct contact with infected patients. We believe that the successful management of the first wave of the pandemic and the experience gained by the entire team will help to manage the further course of this pandemic as well as other epidemics in the future. Here we bring our own experience from University Hospital ICU, which was selected to treat critically ill Covid-19 positive patients from whole region.