Can Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for COVID-19 Be Considered as an Outbreak Response Strategy in Long-Term Care Hospitals?
Lee,
Can Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for COVID-19 Be Considered as an Outbreak Response Strategy in Long-Term Care..,
at al., Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents, 2020, Apr 17, doi:10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105988
Post exposure prophylaxis of 211 high-risk people after major exposure event in a long term care hospital, showing no positive cases after 14 days.
Lee et al., 17 Apr 2020, peer-reviewed, 3 authors.
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International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents 55 (2020) 105988
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International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijantimicag
Short Communication
Can post-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19 be considered as an
outbreak response strategy in long-term care hospitals?
Sun Hee Lee a,1, Hyunjin Son b,1, Kyong Ran Peck c,∗
a
Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Pusan
National University Hospital, 179 Gudeok-ro, Seo-gu, Busan, 49241, Republic of Korea
b
Busan Center for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Pusan National University Hospital and Epidemic Investigation Team of Busan Metropolitan
City, 1001 Jungang-daero, Yeonje-gu, Busan, 47545, Republic of Korea
c
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-Ro
Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Editor: Jean-Marc Rolain
Keywords:
Post-exposure prophylaxis
Hydroxychloroquine
SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
Long-term care hospital
a b s t r a c t
In the context of the ongoing global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), management of
exposure events is a concern. Long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) are particularly vulnerable to cluster outbreaks because facilities for patient isolation and healthcare personnel to care for these patients in isolation are difficult to arrange in a large outbreak situation. Although several drugs have been proposed as
treatment options, there are no data on the effectiveness and safety of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)
for COVID-19. After a large COVID-19 exposure event in an LTCH in Korea, PEP using hydroxychloroquine
(HCQ) was administered to 211 individuals, including 189 patients and 22 careworkers, whose baseline
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for COVID-19 were negative. PEP was completed in 184 (97.4%) patients and 21 (95.5%) careworkers without serious adverse events. At the end of 14 days of quarantine,
all follow-up PCR tests were negative. Based on our experience, further clinical studies are recommended
for COVID-19 PEP.
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