Shift Workers are at a Higher Risk of Severe COVID-19

When examining COVID-19 risk factors, shift work may be an additional consideration for appropriate intervention and management of at-risk individuals.

Highlights:

Shift workers’ circadian rhythms are disrupted, increasing their exposure to infection
People working night shifts were 1.85 times more likely to have a severe COVID-19 infection than their counterparts

Working nights has been linked to several unfavorable health effects, including an increased risk of infection. An international team of researchers has now explored how shift work and working face-to-face with others increase the risk of COVID-19 infection and the severity of the illness.

How Working Conditions Affect Health

7141 workers from 16 countries responded to an online survey regarding their working conditions, whether they had been infected with the coronavirus, the severity of the infection, and whether they had been hospitalized because of COVID-19.

Night Shift Work May Up Risk of Heart Problems
Night shift workers should get their hearts checked early if they feel any pain or discomfort in their chests to prevent the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) & coronary heart disease (CHD).

‘Shift workers, particularly night shift workers, are more likely to contract severe COVID-19 infection.’

Those who worked face-to-face with others had a higher incidence of COVID-19, as expected.

“However, they did not have a higher risk of getting a more severe outcome of the infection, compared to those not working face-to-face with others”, says Bjørn Bjorvatn, first author of the article and Professor of Medicine at the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen.

Shift Workers had Higher Risk of Hospitalization

Shift workers did not have a higher risk of infection than daytime workers. Bjorvatn explains this by stating that the virus is highly infectious and that the overall infection rate is high.

Shift Working: New COVID-19 Risk Factor
People who work shifts are at an increased risk to end up in hospital with COVID-19 than people who have regular work patterns.

“Shift workers are not likely to be exposed to more viruses than day workers. Once infected, however, shift workers had an almost six-folded higher risk of being hospitalized due to COVID-19, compared to daytime workers. This supports the hypothesis that sleep deprivation negatively affects the immune system. Other studies show that the response to vaccination is poorer in sleep-deprived individuals. Therefore, shift workers should take their vaccines after a good night's sleep,” advises Bjorvatn

Source-Medindia

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