COVID-19 has dominated the pages of the JHI since 2020

Unsurprisingly, against the backdrop of a global pandemic which received headlines for its potential to spread in hospitals, care homes and other healthcare facilities, the most-cited work in the Journal of Hospital Infection (JHI) recently has focused on COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2.

Early papers aimed to help us understand how to tackle the threat posed by SARS-CoV-2 to our healthcare systems: Zhang et al. surveyed Chinese healthcare workers in early 2020 to ascertain their levels of understanding and their attitudes towards the novel coronavirus, whilst Kampf et al. presented a review of previously known coronaviruses, their persistence on various surfaces and the efficacy of various biocidal agents against these organisms.

An international journal for infection prevention and control

The international reach of the JHI is apparent in the short collection presented in this blog.

The journal published papers from across the globe, and facilitated learning in the international scientific community from experiences in healthcare systems worldwide. The papers presented here range from work on COVID-19 vaccination strategies for healthcare workers in France (Gagneux-Brunon et al.), how and why healthcare workers become infected with COVID-19 in China (Wang et al.) and the attitudes and understanding of healthcare workers in Pakistan (Saqlain et al.) and Iran (Barati et al.) towards COVID-19.

Moving past the peak of the pandemic

As the pandemic progressed, a more detailed understanding of SARS-CoV-2 developed. Tang et al. myth-busted beliefs about thetransmission of the virus, and Chan et al. assessed factors affecting its infectivity.

Chong an Neu highlighted the importance of fungal diagnostics due to a high incidence and  poorer outcomes in patients with with COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (Chong and Neu),  whilst Galanis et al., showed a high seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, amongst healthcare workers prior to vaccination, highlighting  the importance of IPC measures and PPE in protecting healthcare workers in future respiratory viral pandemics (Galanis et al.).