Browsing by Subject "Disease outbreak"

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    ItemOpen Access
    Healthcare workers and monkeypox: The case for risk mitigation.
    (International journal of surgery open, 2023-01) Manirambona, Emery; Felicilda Lopez, Jaifred Christian; Nduwimana, Colyse; Okesanya, Olalekan John; Mbonimpaye, Régis; Musa, Shuaibu Saidu; Usman, Abubakar Haruna; Lucero-Prisno, Don Eliseo
    Potentially more at risk of contracting the monkeypox virus are healthcare workers. Most healthcare workers come into direct contact with the disease's infected people, which can spread directly and indirectly. Healthcare professionals must contact patients with the disease and any infected objects or fluids to effectively manage the disease, which further increases the risk of transmission. It is crucial to put safety measures in place and protect healthcare workers. To stop the spread of the monkeypox virus, countries must develop the necessary safeguards and countermeasures. In this emergency, healthcare systems must be strengthened. All healthcare systems should offer staff sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) and facilitate risk assessment among those with a high risk of exposure. Any suspected case of monkeypox requires caution on the part of healthcare professionals. They must abide by infection control safety rules and protective measures.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a tertiary care public hospital in Singapore: resources and economic costs.
    (The Journal of hospital infection, 2021-12-11) Cai, Y; Kwek, S; Tang, SSL; Saffari, SE; Lum, E; Yoon, S; Ansah, JP; Matchar, DB; Kwa, AL; Ang, KA; Thumboo, J; Ong, MEH; Graves, N

    Background

    The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted hospitals to respond with stringent measures. Accurate estimates of costs and resources used in outbreaks can guide evaluations of responses. We report on the financial expenditure associated with COVID-19, the bed-days used for COVID-19 patients and hospital services displaced due to COVID-19 in a Singapore tertiary hospital.

    Methods

    We conducted a retrospective cost analysis from January to December 2020 in the largest public hospital in Singapore. Costs were estimated from the hospital perspective. We examined financial expenditures made in direct response to COVID-19; hospital admissions data related to COVID-19 inpatients; and the number of outpatient and emergency department visits, non-emergency surgeries, inpatient days in 2020, compared with preceding years of 2018 and 2019. Bayesian time-series was used to estimate the magnitude of displaced services.

    Results

    USD $41.96 million was incurred in the hospital for COVID-19-related expenses. Facilities set-up and capital assets accounted for 51.6% of the expenditure; patient-care supplies comprised 35.1%. Of the 19,611 inpatients tested for COVID-19 in 2020, 727 (3.7%) had COVID-19. The total inpatient- and intensive care unit (ICU)-days for COVID-19 patients in 2020 were 8009 and 8 days, respectively. A decline in all hospital services was observed from February following a raised disease outbreak alert level; most services quickly resumed when the lockdown was lifted in June.

    Conclusion

    COVID-19 led to an increase in healthcare expenses and a displacement in hospital services. Our findings are useful for informing economic evaluations of COVID-19 response and provide some information about the expected costs of future outbreaks.