TY - JOUR
T1 - Take-home kits to detect respiratory viruses among healthcare personnel
T2 - Lessons learned from a cluster randomized clinical trial
AU - for the ResPECT Study Team
AU - Los, Jenna
AU - Gaydos, Charlotte A.
AU - Gibert, Cynthia L.
AU - Gorse, Geoffrey J.
AU - Lykken, Jacquelyn
AU - Nyquist, Ann Christine
AU - Price, Connie S.
AU - Radonovich, Lewis J.
AU - Rattigan, Susan
AU - Reich, Nicholas
AU - Rodriguez-Barradas, Maria
AU - Simberkoff, Michael
AU - Bessesen, Mary
AU - Brown, Alexandria
AU - Cummings, Derek A.T.
AU - Perl, Trish M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This work was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and the Veterans Health Administration.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc.
PY - 2021/7
Y1 - 2021/7
N2 - 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 polymerase chain reaction. Results: Among 2,862 participants, 3,467 swabs were obtained from symptomatic participants. Among symptomatic HCP, respiratory virus was detected in 904 of 3,467 (26.1%) samples. Self-collected samples by symptomatic HCP at home had higher rates of viral detection (40.3%) compared to 24% obtained by trained research assistants in the workplace (P < .001). Conclusions: In this randomized clinical trial, take-home kits were an easily implemented, effective method to self-collect samples by HCP. Other studies have previously shown relative equivalence of self-collected samples to those obtained by trained healthcare workers. Take-home kit self-collection could diminish workforce exposures and decrease the demand for personnel protective equipment worn to protect workers who collect respiratory samples.
AB - 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 polymerase chain reaction. Results: Among 2,862 participants, 3,467 swabs were obtained from symptomatic participants. Among symptomatic HCP, respiratory virus was detected in 904 of 3,467 (26.1%) samples. Self-collected samples by symptomatic HCP at home had higher rates of viral detection (40.3%) compared to 24% obtained by trained research assistants in the workplace (P < .001). Conclusions: In this randomized clinical trial, take-home kits were an easily implemented, effective method to self-collect samples by HCP. Other studies have previously shown relative equivalence of self-collected samples to those obtained by trained healthcare workers. Take-home kit self-collection could diminish workforce exposures and decrease the demand for personnel protective equipment worn to protect workers who collect respiratory samples.
KW - Diagnostics
KW - Feasibility
KW - Influenza
KW - Self-collection
KW - Surveillance
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ajic.2021.02.001
DO - 10.1016/j.ajic.2021.02.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 33581146
AN - SCOPUS:85101668279
SN - 0196-6553
VL - 49
SP - 893
EP - 899
JO - American Journal of Infection Control
JF - American Journal of Infection Control
IS - 7
ER -