[Association between SARS-COV-2 and chronic diseases in health personnel. A preventive medicine program].

Abstract

Objective: The SARS-CoV-2 infection has been linked to hypertension, obesity and diabetes as risks of hospitalization and death. Regarding obstructive pulmonary diseases, the scientific literature is diverse; finding variation in the frequency of these and therefore their relationship with COVID-19. The available evidence only details hospitalized patients, with insufficient information referring to health workers, so analyzing the main comorbidities in this group is helpful for the implementation and improvement of preventive programs. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence and association of comorbidities with SARS-CoV-2 infection in health care workers.

Methods: Analytical cross-sectional study, in workers of the main national reference center for respiratory diseases in Mexico, who came to care to rule out SARS-CoV-2 infection through a preventive program; calculation of proportions was performed for the sample size. Summary and association measures were calculated.

Results: The prevalence of COVID-19 was 22.9 %. The most frequent comorbidities were: overweight obesity, smoking, hypertension, allergic rhinitis and asthma, with prevalences of 29.0 %, 13.2 %, 8.6 %, 5.5 %, 3.9%, 2.8 % respectively. Overweight, obesity and vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 had Prevalence Ratios of 1.78, 1.72 and 0.43 respectively.

Conclusions: Obesity and overweight show association with SARS-CoV-2; vaccination is a protective factor, especially in people with comorbidities.