‘Do not continue working with flu symptoms’

“It concerns small numbers of respondents per country,” says Andreas Voss, head of medical microbiology at Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital in Nijmegen and professor at Radboud university medical center. He is one of the principal investigators. “But we see very little variation between countries. That is why I think it gives a very good picture of the situation.” The study results are also in line with those of earlier, smaller studies.

Risk of infections

“The basic attitude of people in health care, and indeed outside of it, is to continue working for a reasonably long time,” says Voss. “That means unnecessary risk of spreading infectious diseases.”

The reasons for taking such risks vary. In some countries there is no paid sick leave or is limited to a maximum number of days. Sometimes uncertainty about job retention is the reason to continue working if at all possible.

“People also don’t want to let their colleagues down. That certainly plays a role in healthcare. Everyone knows that you don’t get replaced when you report sick. That means that your colleague has to work harder. People don’t want to create a problem by staying away So they work almost instinctively, but that is why they cause bigger problems. Because they may infect colleagues and patients. “

Behavioral change needed

Voss also saw that happen in his own hospital, the Canisius Wilhelmina. “Certainly at the beginning of the outbreak, people with symptoms continued to come to work. At one point we had 138 infected employees. More than a third had been infected in the hospital and we were able to get back to more than a third of that group. determine that they have been infected by colleagues. “

According to Voss, it will be very difficult to ensure that people no longer work with flu-like complaints. “Working sick every year plays with the flu and now with the coronavirus. And that has to stop. It requires a change in behavior, which is traditionally very difficult. I think this pandemic will make things a little easier,” says Voss.

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