Since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, many sectors are at high risk of catching the infection. Airport workers are in direct contact with travelers from all over the world and the possibility of catching the infection is high. Hence, the main objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of COVID-19 among King Abdul-Aziz airport workers from March to August 2020 and assess the burden and the prognosis of the diseases among these workers.
Methodology
We conducted a cross-sectional study. Socio-demographic data were retrieved from the Health Electronic Surveillance Network (HSEN) in addition to the airport's database about the employees. Clinical data about the disease, complication, and comorbidities were retrieved personally from the patient via a telephone-based interview. Data were analyzed using SPSS and statistical significance was set at p<0.05.
Results
We identified 767 patients with a mean age of 40 years (SD±7). 737 (96.1%) of the participants were males and 29 (3.9%) were females. 79 workers were Saudi (10.3) and the remaining (89.7%) were non-Saudi. The majority of the participants (52.2%) worked at Ground Services. The prevalence of COVID-19 among King Abdula-Aziz airport workers was 74.8% (573/767). Most of the cases were infected between May (21.8%), August (19.0%), and March (18.5%). Out of the 142 patients who were admitted to the hospital, 10 patients entered the ICU and 3 deaths were reported with a cases fatality rate= 0.52%. (4.4%), (5.6), and (3.8%) reported cardiac, respiratory, and renal complications, respectively. There was a statistically significant relationship between the age, and the sex of the participants and the possibility of catching an infection (P=0.027), (P=0.049), respectively. Also, there was a statistically significant correlation between hypertension, diabetes, and asthma and the development of cardiac, respiratory and renal complications in COVID-19 patients.
Conclusion
Airport workers were highly exposed to the infection, and strict procedures should have been executed to contain the pandemic and decrease its distribution. Patients that were older with a history of chronic diseases were at higher risk. Hence, they should have paid much more attention to decrease their chance of having the infection.