Nosocomial Transmission of COVID-19 within Hospital Wards
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation of nosocomial transmission of COVID-19 within English hospitals
IRAS ID
289321
Contact name
Omer Ali
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 20 days
Research summary
We are investigating what is the risk of hospital patients with COVID-19 infecting other patients in the same bay. This is important, because patients who are "suspected" to have COVID-19 are separated initially, but when they test negative are moved to bays with patients who don't have the virus. We want to understand the differences in those diagnosed with COVID-19 in hospital and those that do not in terms of their characteristics and the moves they made within hospital during their stay. This information will better inform the safest management of patients during the pandemic.
In this collaboration between clinicians and data scientists at Lancashire Teaching Hospital and researchers from the University of Manchester, we will use anonymised data that are routinely collected from the electronic health record system in the hospital.
We will compare those that were diagnosed with COVID-19 in hospital (defined as tested positive for COVID-19 at least 14 days after admission) to those not diagnosed with COVID-19 in hospital who were admitted at the same time. The comparison will identify what factors were different in those diagnosed with COVID and those not infected in hospital with COVID-19. After accounting for differences in patient's health and demographics the analysis will assess whether the number and nature of ward and bay moves in the hospital contribute to the risk of COVID-19 while in hospital and so then estimate the risk of infection for different scenarios.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NW/0041
Date of REC Opinion
18 Feb 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion