Background Starting in late February 2020, Greece is experiencing a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. Healthcare personnel (HCP) were disproportionately affected, accounting for approximately 10% of notified cases. Exclusion from work for 7 days was recommended for HCP with high-risk occupational exposure. Our aim was to evaluate the 7-day exclusion from work policy for HCP with high-risk exposure. Methods HCP with a history of occupational exposure to COVID-19 were notified to the Hellenic National Public Health Organization, regardless of their exposure risk category. Exposed HCP were followed for 14 days after last exposure. Results We prospectively studied 3398 occupationally exposed HCP; nursing personnel accounted for most exposures (n=1705; 50.2%). Of the 3398 exposed HCP, 1599 (47.1%) were classified as low-risk, 765 (22.5%) as moderate-risk, and 1031 (30.4%) as high-risk exposures. Sixty-six (1.9%) HCP developed COVID-19 at a mean of 3.65 days (range: 0-17 days) post-exposure. Of the 66 HCP with COVID-19, 46, 7, and 13 had a history of high-, moderate- or low-risk exposure (4.5%, 0.9%, and 0.8% of all high-, moderate-, and low-risk exposures, respectively). Hospitalization and absenteeism were more prevalent among HCP with high-risk exposure. A logistic regression analysis showed that the following variables were significantly associated with an increased risk for the onset of COVID-19: male, administrative personnel, underlying disease and high-risk exposure. Conclusion HCP with high-risk occupational exposure to COVID-19 had increased probability of serious morbidity, healthcare seeking, hospitalization and absenteeism. Our findings justify the 7-day exclusion from work policy for HCP with high-risk exposure.

Aim To investigate intention rates to get vaccinated against COVID-19 among healthcare personnel (HCP) in Greece. Methods Cross-sectional survey. Results The response rate was 14.5%. Of 1,521 HCP with a known profession, 607 (39.9%) were nursing personnel, 480 (31.6%) physicians, 171 (11.2%) paramedical personnel, 72 (4.7%) supportive personnel, and 191 (12.6%) administrative personnel. Overall, 803 of 1,571 HCP (51.1%) stated their intention to get vaccinated while 768 (48.9%) stated their intention to decline vaccination. Most HCP (71.3%) who reported intent to get vaccinated noted contributing to the control of the pandemic and protecting their families and themselves as their reasons, while the most common reason for reporting intent to decline vaccination was inadequate information about the vaccines (74.9%), followed by concerns about vaccine safety (36.2%).Logistic regression analysis revealed that the probability of intending to get vaccinated increased with male gender, being a physician, history of complete vaccination against hepatitis B, history of vaccination against pandemic A (H1N1) in 2009-2010, belief that COVID-19 vaccination should be mandatory for HCP, and increased confidence in vaccines in general during the COVID-19 pandemic. The following factors were associated with a lower intention to get vaccinated: no vaccination against influenza the past season, no intention to get vaccinated against influenza in 2020-2021, and no intention to recommend COVID-19 vaccination to high-risk patients. Conclusions There is an urgent need to built safety perception towards COVID-19 vaccines and raise vaccine uptake rates by HCP, and thus to protect the healthcare workforce and the healthcare services.

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Objectives: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an important sociocultural and public health problem. This study aims to assess sociodemographic and injury characteristics of IPV victims among adults in a traditional southern European population. Setting: Accident and emergency departments of three sentinel hospitals in Greece participating in the Emergency Department Injury Surveillance System (EDISS). Methods: Data on sociodemographic variables, as well as event and injury characteristics were retrieved from the EDISS database during the three year period 1996-98. Out of a total of 27 319 injured women aged 19 years or more, 312 (1.1%) were reported as IPV related and were compared with 26 466 women with unintentional injuries. Among the 35 174 men with injuries 39 (0.1%) were reported as IPV related and were compared with 34 049 men with unintentional injuries. The data were analyzed through simple cross tabulations and multiple logistic regression. Positive predicted values for selected injury characteristics were also calculated. Results: IPV is more common in rural than in urban areas of Greece. Women are 10 times more frequently IPV victims but men are also IPV victims; younger women and older men are disproportionately affected by IPV. The relative frequency of the phenomenon increases during the late evening and night hours. Certain types of injuries, notably multiple facial injuries, and presentation of the injured person on his/her own at the emergency department or combinations of predictive characteristics are strongly indicative of IPV. Conclusions: Injuries due to IPV are not uncommon in Greece, not withstanding the traditional structure of the society and the tendency of under-reporting. Certain injury characteristics have high positive predictive values and could be used in screening protocols aiming at the correct identification of the underlying external cause in injuries that may be caused by IPV.

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Background: There is limited information on severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in children. Methods: We retrieved data from the national database on SARS-CoV-2 infections. We studied in-family transmission. The level of viral load was categorized as high, moderate, or low based on the cycle threshold values. Results: We studied 203 SARS-CoV-2-infected children (median age: 11 years; range: 6 days to 18.4 years); 111 (54.7%) had an asymptomatic infection. Among the 92 children (45.3%) with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), 24 (26.1%) were hospitalized. Infants <1 year were more likely to develop COVID-19 (19.5% of all COVID-19 cases) (P-value = 0.001). There was no significant difference between viral load and age, sex, underlying condition, fever and hospitalization, as well as between type of SARS-CoV-2 infection and age, sex, underlying condition and viral load. Transmission from a household member accounted for 132 of 178 (74.2%) children for whom the source of infection was identified. An adult member with COVID-19 was the first case in 125 (66.8%) family clusters. Child-to-adult transmission was found in one occasion only. Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 infection is mainly asymptomatic or mild during childhood. Adults appear to play a key role in spread of the virus in families. Most children have moderate or high viral loads regardless of age, symptoms or severity of infection. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of children in the ongoing pandemic and particularly in light of schools reopening and the need to prioritize groups for vaccination, when COVID-19 vaccines will be available.

On 18 April 2014, a case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection was laboratory confirmed in Athens, Greece in a patient returning from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Main symptoms upon initial presentation were protracted fever and diarrhoea, during hospitalisation he developed bilateral pneumonia and his condition worsened. During 14 days prior to onset of illness, he had extensive contact with the healthcare environment in Jeddah. Contact tracing revealed 73 contacts, no secondary cases had occurred by 22 April.