Researchers found that about 10% of patients infected by coronavirus were hospitalized during the first wave in the UK pandemic. This number rose to approximately one in six following the peak in Covid hospital admissions.They stressed that vaccines, improved diagnostics and PPE supply and a better understanding of the virus have significantly reduced the chance of getting Covid in hospital settings. The situation has improved tremendously, according to Dr Christopher Green, a senior clinical lecturer and consultant physician in infectious disease at the University of Birmingham.After being admitted to hospital for other reasons during the first wave of Covid-19, an average of 11.3% of UK Covid patients contracted the disease. This percentage jumped to 15.8% in May, after the peak in hospital admissions. Green stated that this was the worst pandemic for hospitals.Researchers said that hospital-acquired Covid levels were not surprising given the fact that flu is a very common condition in hospitals.Researchers studied 72,157 patients who were admitted to 314 UK hospitals. This represented two-thirds of all UK hospital admissions. Based on data on the time it takes for patients to develop symptoms after infection, they were able to determine which patients were infected.The researchers used the 1 August 2020 cut-off date to estimate that 5,699 to 11862 patients had been infected in their hospital stay. However, they cautioned that this range is likely to be underestimated as the researchers couldn't identify patients who were admitted but discharged before developing symptoms or patients who were infected in another healthcare visit prior to admission.There were stark differences in the risk of contracting Covid at different hospital settings. Acute and general care hospitals had the lowest percentage, 9.7%. Residential community care and mental hospitals had an overall higher proportion, 61.9% versus 67.5%.It is not uncommon for rates to be higher in long-term and residential facilities because patients tend to stay longer.There were however significant differences between acute and general hospitals. There were some excellent examples of infection prevention and practice in busy hospitals, but there were also cases where standards were not high enough, according to Calum Semple, a professor of child health and outbreak medicine at University of Liverpool.Scientists attributed the wide variation to a variety of factors, including insufficient PPE and test supplies, as well as a poor understanding about how the virus transmits. However, they noted that these large variations were important to learn for future outbreaks.The Lancet journal has published the data, but the researchers shared their analysis with policymakers and the NHS since last year. Green said that they are still monitoring what percentage of hospital-acquired cases may be. This range now stands at 3% to 5.5%.He said that he didn't want anyone to be afraid of going into hospitals, because we now know a lot more than we did back then.The key difference is that high levels of vaccine coverage dramatically reduce the chance of you getting sick. However, even if you are unlucky enough not to get infected, it dramatically reduces your ability to spread the disease to others.Semple said that he hopes there will be a greater emphasis on reducing hospital-acquired infection risks. Hospital-acquired Infections should be considered a normal business activity for trusts in the [NHS] sector, and not an exception.
