Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jul;129(7):340-351.
doi: 10.1111/apm.13160.

Status: nosocomial transmission and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 in a Danish context

Henrik Pierre Calum  1 , Louise Palasin Sode  2 , Michael Pedersen  1
Affiliations
Review

Status: nosocomial transmission and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 in a Danish context

Henrik Pierre Calum et al. APMIS. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

The unexpected pandemic with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has challenged the healthcare sector as regards preventing and controlling the virus from spreading between patients and hospital personnel. The massive spread of the pandemic has led state authorities to introduce restrictions on society and public behavior unprecedented in modern times. First, we describe the Danish effort regarding standard precautions, personal protective equipment, and disinfection in the healthcare setting with Denmark as an example. As regards, the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related hospital submissions, deaths, and infected healthcare workers in Denmark is not the hardest hit country compared with others. This cannot be explained by the hardness of the restrictions alone. Several aspects concerning the person-to-person spread of SARS-CoV-2 are not fully understood and require more experimental studies. The dogma is that virus transmission happens through either respiratory droplets or contact routes. However, it is likely not the whole truth, as we describe scenarios where droplets and/or direct contact cannot alone explain how all patients were infected. Aspects of the physiology of airborne transmission are considered, as several parameters are in play beyond particle size and respiratory rate. These are ozone concentration, ambient temperature, and humidity. In a hospital environment, these factors are not necessarily all controllable, making infection prevention and control a challenge.

Keywords: COVID-19; Nosocomial transmission; SARS-COV-2; airborne transmission; droplet.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Surgical mask used as normal equipment on a working day.
Figure 2
Figure 2
FFP3 mask.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) FFP3 mask and goggles used when conducting AGP (B) FFP3 mask and face shield used when conducting AGP.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Fang FC, Benson CA, del Rio C , Edwards KM, Fowler VG, Fredricks DN, et al. COVID‐19—lessons learned and questions remaining. Clin Infect Dis 2020;26:1–16. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wölfel R, Corman VM, Guggemos W, Seilmaier M, Zange S, Müller MA, et al. Virological assessment of hospitalized patients with COVID‐2019. Nature 2020;58:465–9. - PubMed
    1. Lee SH. The SARS epidemic in Hong Kong – a human calamity in the 21st century. Methods Inform Med 2005;44:293–8. - PubMed
    1. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
    1. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel‐coronavirus‐2019/events‐a...