Knowledge and attitude of infection prevention and control practices among health care workers caring for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19

Background: COVID-19 pandemic is growing rapidly, accounting for an increasing proportion of cases worldwide. Infection in healthcare facilities enhances very likely the local outbreaks, impacting mainly the elderly and vulnerable populations. All activities used to minimize the risk of infection spread are referred to as infection control measures. Therefore, this study aimed to; determine the proportion of SARS-COV2 infection among heath care workers (HCWs) caring for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, assess their knowledge and attitude to infection control practices and recommend strategies to decrease the risk of SARS-COV2 infection among them. Methods: This is an electronic-based cross-sectional analytical study conducted in Egypt to assess the knowledge, attitude of HCWs to infection control practices for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection. A purposive sample of 520 participants was targeted through electronic data collection, and they were asked to fill a structured questionnaire form and submit it. Results: The study revealed that 11% of the HCWs were infected with SARS-Cov2. Their mean knowledge percent score regarding infection control prevention practices was 36.19 ± 11.26. The higher rate of infection was among Internal Medicine specialists (75%) with little experience (76.7%), affiliated with the Ministry of Health (46.7%). About (89%) mentioned that the leading cause of infection was the shortage in Personal Protective Equipment PPE. Conclusion: There was a high proportion of SARS-COV2 infection among HCWs in EGYPT, especially among those working in Cairo governorate in Internal Medicine Departments, with fewer years of experience, due to lack of knowledge about infection prevention and control measures and shortage of Personal Protective Equipment in their working facilities.An online data collection method was used in line with lockdown measures conducted in Egypt to achieve social distancing. A Google form was created, and participants were requested to complete and submit it. A questionnaire link was shared with groups for HCWs on social media forums (Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp). Furthermore, authors have shared the link personally to HCWs in their network areas The data was coded and exported on a data sheet prepared on Microsoft Excel program, version 2013. (SPSS version 24) was used for data analysis. Simple descriptive statistics were used for the summary of quantitative data and frequencies used for qualitative data. The bivariate relationship was displayed in cross-tabulations, and a comparison of proportions was performed using the chi-square and Fisher's exact tests where appropriate. Independent T-test was used to compare normally distributed quantitative data. The level of significance was set at P-value