Patients with infectious diseases, overcrowding, and health in hospital staff.

摘要

The evidence on whether treating patients with infectious diseases increases the risk of ill health among hospital staff is limited to specific infectious agents, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococ-cus aureus (MRSA), However, any infectious agent that can be transmitted by airborne transmission or during treatment contact can be acquired at the workplace. We therefore examined whether the overall prevalence of infectious diseases among patients predicts ill health in hospital staff treating them, as indicated by increased absence from work because of sickness and antibiotic medication use. Furthermore, as patient overcrowding has been suggested to increase the transmission of infectious diseases within hospitals, we also studied whether there is an association between patient overcrowding and prevalence of infectious diseases and whether the association between the prevalence of patients with infectious diseases and ill health in hospital staff is dependent on ward overcrowding.