Symptoms in healthcare professionals infected with SARS-CoV-2 at a university hospital/Sintomas em profissionais de saude infectados com SARS-CoV-2 em um hospital universitario

Introduction: Healthcare professionals are among the main risk groups for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The identification of respiratory symptoms is important in the clinical assumption of infection, but it may be asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic. Objectives: To compare the proportion of professionals with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with the proportion of positive asymptomatic professionals with high-risk contact; and to identify respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms of professionals with suspected COVID-19 and the proportion of those who tested positive for SARS CoV-2. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that retrospectively analyzed clinical records of health professionals who spontaneously sought the occupational health service of a university hospital center from March to August 2020 for presenting with symptoms and/or for having had high risk contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 and who, in this context, underwent the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test for SARS-CoV-2. Results: COVID-19 was confirmed in 27 of the 420 symptomatic professionals vs. three of the 193 asymptomatic professionals (p = 0.009). Of the 371 professionals with respiratory symptoms, 19 were positive for COVID-19 vs. 11 among the 242 with no respiratory symptoms (p = 0.750). Nasal congestion and rhinorrhea were the respiratory symptoms with the highest proportion of positive cases (11.43 and 8.97%, respectively). Conclusions: Although COVID-19 is typically associated with respiratory symptoms, not all these symptoms were predictive of disease. It becomes crucial to value mild symptoms among healthcare professionals. Keywords | coronavirus infections; health personnel; occupational health. Introducao: Os profissionais de saude encontram-se entre os principais grupos de risco para a doenca do novo coronavirus (COVID-19). A identificacao de sintomas respiratorios e importante na presuncao clinica da infeccao, mas ela pode ser assintomatica ou paucissintomatica. Objetivos: Comparar a proporcao de profissionais com teste positivo para o novo coronavirus 2 e sintomas sugestivos de COVID-19 com a proporcao de assintomaticos positivos com contato de alto risco; e identificar os sintomas respiratorios e outros sintomas dos profissionais com suspeita de COVID-19 e a proporcao dos que testaram positivo. Metodos: Estudo transversal, com analise retrospectiva dos regi