After universal masking, health care worker COVID-19 rates drop at Mass General Brigham

Date:
July 15, 2020
Source:
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Summary:
A new study makes it clear: after universal masking was implemented
at Mass General Brigham, the rate of COVID-19 infection among
health care workers dropped significantly.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In March of 2020, Mass General Brigham implemented a new policy: everyone working at the hospitals would be required to wear a surgical mask. At
the time, the concept of universal masking was new and its potential effectiveness unclear. But now, a new study led by investigators from
Brigham and Women's Hospital and published in JAMA makes it clear: after universal masking was implemented at Mass General Brigham, the rate of
COVID-19 infection among health care workers dropped significantly.


========================================================================== "These results support universal masking as part of a multipronged,
infection- reduction strategy in health care settings," said
corresponding author Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, FACC, executive director
of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at the Brigham. "While we
studied health care workers, the results also apply to other situations
in which social distancing is not possible. For those who have been
waiting for data before adopting the practice, this paper makes it
clear: Masks work." The study assessed infection rates for SARS-CoV-2,
the virus that causes COVID- 19, among Mass General Brigham health care
workers before and after a universal masking policy was put in place system-wide. Mass General Brigham includes 12 hospitals, including
Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, and
78,000 employees in Massachusetts. Using electronic medical records,
Bhatt and colleagues examined data from March 1 to April 30, looking
at test results for health care workers who had symptoms of COVID-19 (throughout the study period, anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 could
be tested for infection). Of 9,850 health care workers tested over the
study period, 1,271 (13 percent) had positive results for SARS-CoV-2.

The team compared rates during the pre-intervention period of March 1 to
March 24 to the intervention period of April 11 to April 30 (the team
allowed for a transition period from March 25 to April 11 to account
for a lag in symptoms).

Before the masking policy was implemented, the SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate increased exponentially from 0 percent to 21 percent, with cases doubling
every 3.6 days. After the policy was implemented, the positivity rate
decreased linearly from 15 percent to 11 percent. Case numbers continued
to increase in Massachusetts throughout the study period.

In their paper, the authors outline other interventions in Massachusetts
and at Mass General Brigham during the study period that may have
confounded their results. They also note that during a pandemic it
is likely not feasible to conduct a randomized trial to test whether
universal masking alone accounts for the dramatic reversal in the
SARS-CoV-2 positive rate.

"This is the most direct COVID-19 research data to this point that is
based on testing of health care workers pre- and post-implementation of universal masking policies," said Dean Hashimoto, MD, the chief medical
officer for Occupational Health Services at Mass General Brigham. "When
our Infection Control leaders announced a universal masking policy early
in the pandemic it was a bold move, especially at a time when, like all
health systems, we were facing PPE shortages. But the results of this
study demonstrate that requiring masks for all hospital staff regardless
of role in the organization was critical to protecting our employees."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Brigham_and_Women's_Hospital. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Xiaowen Wang, Enrico G. Ferro, Guohai Zhou, Dean Hashimoto,
Deepak L.

Bhatt. Association Between Universal Masking in a Health Care
System and SARS-CoV-2 Positivity Among Health Care Workers. JAMA,
2020; DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.12897 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200715111449.htm

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