@article{Goldrick_N-2022_81309,
title = {Surveillance of COVID-19 cases associated with dental settings using routine health data from the East of Scotland with a description of efforts to break chains of transmission from October 2020 to December 2021},
author = {Goldrick, N. and O'Keefe, E.},
month = {mar},
year = {2022},
abstract = {Introduction: Dental settings have been considered high risk settings for COVID-19. A Dental Public Health Team in South East Scotland have worked to risk assess the situation timeously to break chains of transmission. Aim: To present routine data produced from a contact tracing service for COVID-19 cases in the dental setting with a focus on transmission. Design: Observational retrospective analysis of a routine data set of COVID-19 cases associated with a dental setting reported via the national contact tracing system for two health board areas in the east of Scotland. Methods: COVID-19 cases were confirmed by PCR testing. Descriptive statistics are used to summarise the data collected over a 13-month period (Oct 2020-Dec 2021). A narrative presents themes identified during contact tracing that led to transmission within a dental setting and includes a case study. Results: A total of 811 incidents are included. No evidence of staff to patient transmission or vice versa was found in this study. Staff to staff transmission occurred in non-clinical areas contributing to 33% of total staff cases. Conclusion: Transmission of COVID-19 in a dental setting in the context of this study appears to be confined to non-clinical areas. Future pandemic plans should include tools to aid with implementation of guidance in non-clinical areas.},
publisher = {medRxiv},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.11.22272263},
}
