Background
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks, health care workers (HCWs) are at a high risk of infection. Strategies to reduce in-hospital transmission between HCWs and to safely manage infected HCWs are lacking. Our aim was to describe an active strategy for the management of COVID-19 in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)–infected HCWs and investigate its outcomes.
Methods
A prospective cohort study of SARS-CoV-2-infected health care workers in a tertiary teaching hospital in Barcelona, Spain, was performed. An active strategy of weekly polymerase chain reaction screening of HCWs for SARS-CoV-2 was established by the Occupational Health department. Every positive HCW was admitted to the Hospital at Home Unit with daily assessment online and in-person discretionary visits. Clinical and epidemiological data were recorded.
Results
Of the 590 HCWs included in the cohort, 134 (22%) were asymptomatic at diagnosis, and 15% (89 patients) remained asymptomatic during follow-up. A third of positive cases were detected during routine screening. The most frequent symptoms were cough (68%), hyposmia/anosmia (49%), and fever (41%). Ten percent of the patients required specific treatment at home, while only 4% of the patients developed pneumonia. Seventeen patients required a visit to the outpatient clinic for further evaluation, and 6 of these (1%) required hospital admission. None of the HCWs included in this cohort required intensive care unit admission or died.
Conclusions
Active screening for SARS-CoV-2 among HCWs for early diagnosis and stopping in-hospital transmission chains proved efficacious in our institution, particularly due to the high percentage of asymptomatic HCWs. Follow-up of HCWs in Hospital at Home units is safe and effective, with low rates of severe infection and readmission.
The dehydration of alcohols to obtain alkenes is commonly performed in the presence of an acid as the catalyst at high temperature. This reaction is an important method in basic Organic Chemistry. Green Chemistry pursues the chemical production of compounds preventing the generation of hazardous waste, as well as minimizing the impacts to health and the environment. In this sense, the incorporation of the most of the principles of the Green Chemistry into the teaching of undergraduate lab-work is now desirable. Thus, the goal of this work is to offer an interesting green approach for the reaction of alcohol dehydration using as, primary alcohols: 1-heptanol and 1-octanol; as secondary alcohols: cyclohexanol and 2-methylcyclohexanol, and as tertiary alcohol 1-methylcyclohexanol, using an activated bentonitic clay (Tonsil) as the catalyst. The reactions proceed with good yields and shorter times.
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