COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspective of an Italian Tertiary Care Pediatric Center
Daniele Donà,
Carlo Giaquinto,
Eugenio Baraldi,
Alessandra Biffi,
Piergiorgio Gamba,
Anna Maria Saieva,
Luca Antoniello,
Paola Costenaro,
Susanna Masiero,
Laura Sainati,
Liviana Da Dalt,
Giorgio Perilongo
Affiliations
Daniele Donà
Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy
Carlo Giaquinto
Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy
Eugenio Baraldi
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy
Alessandra Biffi
Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy
Piergiorgio Gamba
Pediatric Surgery Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy
Anna Maria Saieva
Medical Staff Affairs, University Hospital of Padua, Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy
Luca Antoniello
Pediatric Surgery Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy
Paola Costenaro
Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy
Susanna Masiero
Pediatric Emergency Department Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy
Laura Sainati
Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy
Liviana Da Dalt
Pediatric Emergency Department Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy
Giorgio Perilongo
Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University Hospital of Padua, Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy
Since February 2020, Italy has been faced with the dramatic spread of novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This impetuous pandemic infection forced many hospitals to reorganize their healthcare systems. Predicting a rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus within our region, the Department for Women’s and Children’s Health promptly decided (i) to revise the distribution of the clinical areas in order to create both designated COVID-19 and COVID-19-free areas with their own access, (ii) to reinforce infection prevention control (IPC) measures for all healthcare workers and administrative staff and (iii) to adopt the new “double-gate approach”: a phone call pre-triage and nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 detection before the admission of all patients and caregivers. Between 21 February 2020 till 04 May 2020, only seven physicians, two nurses and two of the administrative staff resulted positive, all during the first week of March. No other cases of intra-department infection were documented among the healthcare workers since all the preventive procedures described above were implemented. It is predicted that similar situations can happen again in the future, and thus, it is necessary to be more prepared to deal with them than we were at the beginning of this COVID-19 pandemic.