Ziv Izhaki, MD, MHA, Shai Herzberger, MD, MHA, Tomer Talmy, MD, Einat Haikin Herzberger, MD, Racheli Magnezi
PhD, MBA, MHA, Anat Hershko-Klement, MD
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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic constitutes a global health challenge in which healthcare workers (HCW) play a crucial role. We aimed to assess the perceptions of HCW on the COVID-19 pandemic and their attitudes towards the forthcoming vaccine.
Methods: A total of 647 hospital and community HCW (including 48 military physicians) from israel participated in a cross-sectional, online survey administered in September 2020.
Results: The majority (78.8%) of HCW did not agree with the perception that COVID-19 is a seasonal, flu-like illness. In addition, most participants (70.1%) did not agree that lockdowns are an essential measure to overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. Most (60.5%) of the participants believed that the negative socio-economic impacts of restrictive measures outweigh the health-related benefits. Nurses tended to support lockdowns. Women were less supportive of this measure, compared to men. Most HCW intend to vaccinate (73.6%) and recommend (79.2%) vaccination for COVID-19, both lower than reported rates for influenza vaccination. Nurses were less likely to get vaccinated or recommend vaccination, but supported restrictions more than physicians (Influenza: OR 0.23, OR 0.24 respectively, COVID-19: OR 0.38, OR 0.4 respectively. p=0<0.01). Community HCW encourage their patients to get influenza vaccines more than hospital personnel (OR=3.18, p=0.02), but there were no differences between to the two groups in encouragement to vaccinate for COVID-19.
Conclusions: Educational interventions should be instituted to bridge gaps in perception and knowledge of public health and preventive measures among subsets of HCW.
Keywords: COVID-19, healthcare workers, disease perception, vaccination
Nir Tsur, MD, Yaakov Eyal, MD, Iris Dotan, MD, LTC Oded Ben-Ari, MD, LTC Saleh Daher, MD, COL Zivan Beer, MD
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Background: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is commonly diagnosed between ages 21-26, which overlaps with the average age of military personnel in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Therefore, military personnel often receive their initial diagnosis of IBD during their service. Today, when an IDF soldier is diagnosed with IBD, they are removed from active service. This study follows four Navy Special Operation Forces (SOF) personnel diagnosed with IBD during their service. Despite guidelines, all of the Navy SOF personnel diagnosed with IBD completed their full service and their peers without any medical incidents.
Methods: A prospective observational study including all Navy SOF personnel diagnosed with IBD.
Results: Subjects were four male Navy SOF soldiers with a mean age of 21 years. Three patients had Crohn’s disease (CD), and one had ulcerative colitis (UC). The mean follow-up was 612 days (329-819). Two patients were treated with mesalamine; all were treated with dietary modifications. The average grounding period in which the soldiers were suspended from combat activity was 90 days. All continued
active service under close monitoring or as needed, and no failure of assigned missions was documented.
Conclusions: In our study, all Navy SOF personnel diagnosed with IBD could continue active high-intensity military missions. No events of sudden incapacitation or severe disabling flareups were detected. Our study recommends modified restrictions during active flare-ups, consistent follow-ups and active service for soldiers with IBD in remission.
Keywords: IDF, IBD, QOL Tailored Medicine