Agricultural workers in meatpacking plants presenting to an emergency department with suspected COVID-19 infection are disproportionately Black and Hispanic

dc.contributor.authorHouse, Hans R.
dc.contributor.authorVakkalanka, J. Priyanka
dc.contributor.authorBehrens, Nathan G.
dc.contributor.authorHaan, Jessica De
dc.contributor.authorHalbur, Christopher R.
dc.contributor.authorHarrington, Elaine M.
dc.contributor.authorPatel, Pooja H.
dc.contributor.authorRawwas, Lulua
dc.contributor.authorCamargo, Carlos A.
dc.contributor.authorKline, Jeffrey A.
dc.contributor.departmentEmergency Medicine, School of Medicineen_US
dc.date.accessioned2022-01-11T20:19:59Z
dc.date.available2022-01-11T20:19:59Z
dc.date.issued2021-09
dc.description.abstractObjective Facilities that process and package meat for consumer sale and consumption (meatpacking plants) were early sites of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks. The aim of this study was to characterize the association between meatpacking plant exposure and clinical outcomes among emergency department (ED) patients with COVID-19 symptoms. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of patients presenting to a single ED, from March 1 to May 31, 2020, who had: 1) symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and 2) a COVID-19 test performed. The primary outcome was COVID-19 positivity, and secondary outcomes included hospital admission from the ED, ventilator use, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, hospital length of stay (LOS; <48 or ≥48 h), and mortality. Results Patients from meatpacking plants were more likely to be Black or Hispanic than the ED patients without this occupational exposure. Patients with a meatpacking plant exposure were more likely to test positive for COVID-19 (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 2.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.59 to 3.53) but had similar rates of hospital admission (aRR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.82 to 1.07) and hospital LOS (aRR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.45 to 1.23). There was no significant difference in ventilator use among patients with meatpacking and nonmeatpacking plant exposure (8.2% vs. 11.1%, p = 0.531), ICU admissions (4.1% vs. 12.0%, p = 0.094), and mortality (2.0% vs. 4.1%, p = 0.473). Conclusions Workers in meatpacking plants in Iowa had a higher rate of testing positive for COVID-19 but were not more likely to be hospitalized for their illness. These patients were disproportionately Black and Hispanic.en_US
dc.eprint.versionAuthor's manuscripten_US
dc.identifier.citationHouse, H. R., Vakkalanka, J. P., Behrens, N. G., Haan, J. D., Halbur, C. R., Harrington, E. M., Patel, P. H., Rawwas, L., Camargo, C. A., & Kline, J. A. (2021). Agricultural workers in meatpacking plants presenting to an emergency department with suspected COVID-19 infection are disproportionately Black and Hispanic. Academic Emergency Medicine, 28(9), 1012-1018. https://doi.org/10.1111/acem.14314en_US
dc.identifier.issn1553-2712en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1805/27355
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherWileyen_US
dc.relation.isversionof10.1111/acem.14314en_US
dc.relation.journalAcademic Emergency Medicineen_US
dc.rightsPublisher Policyen_US
dc.sourceAuthoren_US
dc.subjectAgricultural Workersen_US
dc.subjectCOVID-19en_US
dc.subjectMeatpacking Plantsen_US
dc.titleAgricultural workers in meatpacking plants presenting to an emergency department with suspected COVID-19 infection are disproportionately Black and Hispanicen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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