Epidemiological characteristics of workers with COVID-19 from the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social

Abstract

Background: In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused an outbreak of the respiratory disease called COVID-19, in Wuhan, China. At the end of February 2020, it was detected in Mexico the first case of COVID-19. With this disease, chronic degenerative diseases are decisive for comorbidity to continue increasing.

Objective: To know the epidemiological characteristics and comorbidity in workers sick with COVID-19 from the Veracruz Norte Regional Deconcentrated Administrative Operation Body, from the Mexican Institute for Social Security (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, IMSS).

Material and methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional study, which included 228 COVID-19 patients, who were IMSS workers. Variables such as age, gender, as well as medical unit, contractual category, comorbidities, etc., were analyzed and were taken from April to June 2020 from the Online Notification System for Epidemiological Surveillance (SINOLAVE) database. It was used descriptive statistics, and Pearson’s chi-squared, with a p < 0.05.

Results: 228 patients were analyzed. The nursing staff was the one with the highest prevalence with 101 patients (44.3%). Comorbidities such as obesity in the foreground, with 27 patients (11.8%), and diabetes mellitus alone with 15 patients (6.6%), and as a group, along with arterial hypertension, obesity and being a chronic smoker in 22 patients (9.6%) were the most frequent.

Conclusions: The nursing staff predominated; the prevalent comorbidities were obesity, diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension.