TY - JOUR
T1 - A review of infectious disease epidemiology in emergency medical service clinicians
AU - Russell, Anna
AU - Jenkins, J. Lee
AU - Zhang, Allen
AU - Wilson, Lisa M.
AU - Bass, Eric B.
AU - Hsu, Edbert B.
N1 - Funding Information:
Special thanks to David Niebuhr, Task Order Officer, (AHRQ), Gamunu Wijetunge (NHTSA) and Katherine Elkins (NHTSA). Funding/support: This report is based on research conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) under contract to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Rockville, MD (Contract No. 75Q80120D00003) with support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the authors, who are responsible for its contents; the findings and conclusions do not necessarily represent the views of AHRQ or NHTSA. Therefore, no statement in this report should be construed as an official position of AHRQ, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NHTSA or the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Funding Information:
Funding/support: This report is based on research conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) under contract to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Rockville, MD (Contract No. 75Q80120D00003) with support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the authors, who are responsible for its contents; the findings and conclusions do not necessarily represent the views of AHRQ or NHTSA. Therefore, no statement in this report should be construed as an official position of AHRQ, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NHTSA or the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc.
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - Background: The emergency medical service (EMS) workforce is at high risk of occupationally-acquired infections. This review synthesized existing literature on the prevalence, incidence, and severity of infections in the EMS workforce. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and SCOPUS from January 1, 2006 to March 15, 2022 for studies in the US that involved EMS clinician or firefighter populations and reported 1 or more health outcomes related to occupationally-acquired infections. Results: Of the 25 studies that met the inclusion criteria, most focused on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, with prevalence rates ranging from 1.1% to 36.2% (median 6.7%). The prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in 4 studies ranged from 1.9% to 6.4%, and the prevalence of Hepatitis C in 1 study was 1.3%. Few studies reported incidence rates. The prevalence or incidence of these infections generally did not differ by age or gender, but 4 studies reported differences by race or ethnicity. In the 4 studies that compared infection rates between EMS clinicians and firefighters, EMS clinicians had a higher chance of hospitalization or death from SAR-CoV-2 (odds ratio 4.23), a higher prevalence of Hepatitis C in another study (odds ratio 1.74), and no significant difference in MRSA colonization in a separate study. Conclusions: More research is needed to better characterize the incidence and severity of occupationally-acquired infections in the EMS workforce.
AB - Background: The emergency medical service (EMS) workforce is at high risk of occupationally-acquired infections. This review synthesized existing literature on the prevalence, incidence, and severity of infections in the EMS workforce. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and SCOPUS from January 1, 2006 to March 15, 2022 for studies in the US that involved EMS clinician or firefighter populations and reported 1 or more health outcomes related to occupationally-acquired infections. Results: Of the 25 studies that met the inclusion criteria, most focused on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, with prevalence rates ranging from 1.1% to 36.2% (median 6.7%). The prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in 4 studies ranged from 1.9% to 6.4%, and the prevalence of Hepatitis C in 1 study was 1.3%. Few studies reported incidence rates. The prevalence or incidence of these infections generally did not differ by age or gender, but 4 studies reported differences by race or ethnicity. In the 4 studies that compared infection rates between EMS clinicians and firefighters, EMS clinicians had a higher chance of hospitalization or death from SAR-CoV-2 (odds ratio 4.23), a higher prevalence of Hepatitis C in another study (odds ratio 1.74), and no significant difference in MRSA colonization in a separate study. Conclusions: More research is needed to better characterize the incidence and severity of occupationally-acquired infections in the EMS workforce.
KW - Firefighters
KW - Occupationally-acquired infections
KW - Prehospital
KW - Systematic review
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85146970258&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85146970258&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.12.001
DO - 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.12.001
M3 - Review article
C2 - 36509183
AN - SCOPUS:85146970258
SN - 0196-6553
VL - 51
SP - 931
EP - 937
JO - American Journal of Infection Control
JF - American Journal of Infection Control
IS - 8
ER -