title: A cluster of health care workers with COVID-19 pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2

text: BACKGROUND: The current outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Wuhan, Hubei, China, spreads across national and international borders. METHODS: We prospectively collected medical records of 14 health care workers (HCWs) who were infected with SARS-CoV-2, in neurosurgery department of Wuhan Union Hospital, China. RESULTS: Among the 14 HCWs, 12 were conformed cases, the other 2 were suspected cases. Most of them were either exposed to the two index patients or infected coworkers, without knowing they were COVID-19 patients. There were 4 male and 10 female infected HCWs in this cohort, whose mean age was 36 years (SD, 6 years). The main symptoms included myalgia or fatigue (100%), fever (86%) and dry cough (71%). On admission, 79% of infected HCWs showed leucopenia and 43% lymphopenia. Reduced complement C3 could be seen in 57% of the infected HCWs and IL-6 was significantly elevated in 86% of them. The proportion of lymphocytes subsets, concentrations of immunoglobulins, complement C4, IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, TNF-α and IFN-Î³ were within normal range in these 14 infected HCWs. The most frequent findings on pulmonary computed tomographic images were bilateral multifocal ground-glass opacifications (86%). CONCLUSIONS: Human-to-human transmission of COVID-19 pneumonia has occurred among HCWs, and most of these infected HCWs with confirmed COVID-19 are mild cases. Our data suggest that in the epidemic area of COVID-19, stringent and urgent surveillance and infection-control measures should be implemented to protect doctors and nurses from COVID-19 infection.


Espoirs et difficultes experimentales contre le covid-19


docid: mnqbguip

title: COVID (Co-Operative Vascular Intervention Disease) Team of Greater Philadelphia

text: We established the COVID (Co-OperativeVascularInterventionDisease) Team of Greater Philadelphia because national guidelines may not apply to different geographic areas of the United States due to varying penetrance of the virus. On April 10, 2020, a ten-question survey regarding issues and strategies dealing with COVID-19 was e-mailed to 58 VSs in the Greater Philadelphia area. Fifty-four VSs in 18 surgical groups covering 28 hospitals responded. All groups accepted transfers due to continued ICU bed availability. Thirteen groups were asked to "re-deploy" if the need arose to function outside of the usual duties of a VS. None imposed age restrictions regarding older VSs continuing clinical hospital work. The majority restricted non-invasive vascular laboratory studies to those studies where findings might mandate intervention within 2-3 weeks, restricted dialysis access operations to urgent revisions of arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs)/ grafts that were failing or had ulcerations, converted from in-person to telemedicine clinic interactions, and experienced moderate/severe anxiety or fear about personal COVID-19 exposure in the hospital. The majority of VSs in the Philadelphia area have dramatically adjusted their clinical practices before the COVID-19 crisis reached peak levels experienced in other metropolitan areas.


title: Major sports events and the transmission of SARS-CoV-2: analysis of seven case-studies in Europe

text: letter without abstract.


title: Proposal for a EN 149 acceptable reprocessing method for FFP2 respirators in times of severe shortage

text: Introduction: Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to health care workers (HCW) poses a major burden in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Unprotected exposure to a COVID-19 patient is a key risk factor for HCWs. Transmission mainly occurs by droplet transmission, or by aerosol generating procedures. Respirators such as filtering face piece masks (FFP2), also called respirators, are required to prevent transmission during aerosol generating procedures, as part of the personal protective equipment (PPE) for HCWs. However, many HCW were infected due to lack of PPE, or failure to use them. Therefore, the worldwide shortage of respirators triggered the development of reprocessing used FFP2 respirators or N95 respirators as standard in the US. Our proposal with H2O2 plasma sterilization for decontamination allows to reprocess FFP2, while they still meet the filtration efficiency required by EN 149. The protocol is simple, uses available resources in hospitals and can be rapidly implemented to decrease the shortage of respirators during this crisis. The goal of the study was the evaluate if respirators can be reprocessed and still fulfill the requirements for filtration efficiency outlined by EN 149. Methods: Used FFP2 respirators - Model 3 M Aura™ 1862+ - were sterilized using a low temperature process hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), V-PRO® maX Low Temperature, a FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved method to decontaminate FFP2 respirators. Decontaminated respirators were further checked for residual peroxide by a single-gas detector for H2O2. The total inward leakage of the protective respirators was quantitatively tested with 10 test persons in an atmosphere charged with paraffin aerosol according to the European Standard EN 149. The fit factor was calculated as the inverse of the total inward leakage. Results: Ten new and ten decontaminated FFP2 respirators were tested for filtration efficiency. None of the respirators exceeded the maximum acceptable concentration of peroxide. More than 4000 respirators have been reprocessed so far, at cost of approximately 0.3 Euro/piece. Conclusions: FFP2 respirators can be safely reprocessed once after decontamination with plasma peroxide sterilization, whereafter they still fulfill EN 149 requirements. This allows to almost double the current number of available FFP2 respirators.


Unintended Consequences of COVID-19: Remember General Pediatrics


title: Repositioning PARP inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 infection(COVID-19); a new multi-pronged therapy for acute respiratory distress syndrome?

text: Clinically approved PARP inhibitors (PARPi) have a mild adverse effect profile and are well tolerated as continuous daily oral therapy. We review the evidence that justifies the repurposing of PARPi to block the proliferation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and combat the life-threatening sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by several mechanisms. PARPi can effectively decrease IL-6, IL-1 and TNF-α levels (key interleukins in SARS-CoV-2-induced cytokine storm) and can alleviate subsequent lung fibrosis, as demonstrated in murine experiments and clinical trials. PARPi can tune macrophages towards a tolerogenic phenotype. PARPi may also counteract SARS-CoV-2-induced and inflammation-induced cell death and support cell survival. PARPi is effective in animal models of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), asthma and ventilator-induced lung injury. PARPi may potentiate the effectiveness of tocilizumab, anakinra, sarilumab, adalimumab, canakinumab or siltuximab therapy. The evidence suggests that PARPi would benefit COVID-19 patients and trials should be undertaken.


docid: tpducyke

title: Overselling wildlife trade bans will not bolster conservation or pandemic preparedness


The pathogenesis and alternative treatment of SARS-CoV2


title: Loss of microRNA-21 leads to profound stromal remodeling and short survival in K-Ras-driven mouse models of pancreatic cancer

text: The microenvironment of pancreatic cancer adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is highly desmoplastic with distinct tumor-restraining and tumor-promoting fibroblast subpopulations. Re-education rather than indiscriminate elimination of these fibroblasts has emerged as a new strategy for combination therapy. Here, we studied the effects of global loss of pro-fibrotic non-coding regulatory microRNA-21 (miR-21) in K-Ras-driven p53-deleted genetically engineered mouse models of PDAC. Strikingly, loss of miR-21 accelerated tumor initiation via mucinous cystic neoplastic lesions and progression to locally advanced invasive carcinoma from which animals precipitously succumbed at an early age. The absence of tumor-restraining myofibroblasts and a massive infiltrate of immune cells were salient phenotypic features of global miR-21 loss. Stromal miR-21 activity was required for induction of tumor-restraining myofibroblasts in in-vivo isograft transplantation experiments. Low miR-21 expression negatively correlated with a fibroblast gene expression signature and positively with an immune cell gene expression signature in TCGA PDAC data set (n = 156) mirroring findings in the mouse models. Our results exposed an overall tumor suppressive function of miR-21 in in-vivo PDAC models. These results have important clinical implications for anti-miR-21-based inhibitory therapeutic approaches under consideration for PDAC and other cancer types. Mechanistic dissection of the cell-intrinsic role of miR-21 in cancer-associated fibroblasts and other cell types will be needed to inform best strategies for pharmacological modulation of miR-21 activity in order to remodel the tumor microenvironment and enhance treatment response in PDAC. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Severe COVID-19 in Children and Young Adults in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Region


title: Setting up and maximising the usage of an Urgent Dental Care Centre in Blackpool. Sharing our experiences

text: An integrated Urgent Dental Care Centre with Tier 2 Oral Surgery support was set up in Blackpool starting 24th March 2020. This was in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first month 1433 patients had telephone consultations and 713 extractions were performed. The challenges surrounding set up and continuity of care are discussed.


title: Update on the target structures of SARS-CoV-2: A systematic review

text: Knowledge of structural details is very much essential from the drug-design perspective. In the systematic review, we systematically reviewed the structural basis of different target proteins of SARS-corona virus (CoV2) from a viral life cycle and from drug design perspective. We searched four literature (PubMed, EMBASE, NATURE, and Willey online library) databases and one structural database (RCSB.org) with appropriate keywords till April 18, and finally, 26 articles were included in the systematic review. The published literature mainly centered upon the structural details of "spike protein," "main protease/M Pro/3CL pro," "RNA-dependent RNA polymerase," and "nonstructural protein 15 Endoribonuclease" of SARS-CoV-2. However, inhibitor bound structures were very less. We need better structures elucidating the interactions between different targets and their inhibitors which will help us in understanding the atomic level importance of different amino acid residues in the functionality of the target structures. To summarize, we need structures with fine resolution, co-crystallized structures with biologically validated inhibitors, and functional characterization of different target proteins. Some other routes of entry of SARS-CoV-2 are also mentioned (e.g., CD147); however, these findings are not structurally validated. This review may pave way for better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 life cycle from structural biology perspective.


title: On Answering the Call to Action For COVID-19: Continuing a Bold Legacy of Health Advocacy

text: The disproportionately high burden of death and disability observed for racial and ethnic minorities under the Coronavirus pandemic necessitates sustained advocacy by the medical and public health communities around critical determinants of population health. Prompting our advocacy should be the understanding that our collective ability to rebound from such crises may ultimately hinge on protecting and equipping our most vulnerable racial-ethnic minority groups and any susceptible individuals within those populations. If proven effective, recent historic firsts by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in response to COVID-19 should be championed for permanency within policy, practice and funding. In addition, given the complex history of Black Americans in this country and persistent and substantial Black-white disparities on health and economic measures across the board, some kind of reparations for this group may serve as a logical starting point for further advocacy. Nevertheless, we remain supportive allies of all organizations concerned with communities who suffer the weight of this pandemic and any future world health disasters. Let us as human clinicians and public health professionals capture this moment of challenge and engage in thoughtful unification of effort and commit to measurable progress for as long as the need exists and certainly for the foreseeable future.


title: Body temperature of free-ranging koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) in south-east Queensland

text: The distribution of the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) in Queensland is predicted to contract as a result of climate change, driven by the frequency, intensity and duration of heatwaves and drought. However, little is known about the physiological responses of this species to environmental extremes under field conditions. This study aimed to establish the efficacy of surgically implanted thermal radio transmitters and data loggers to measure the body temperature of free-ranging koalas across a range of environmental conditions and ambient temperatures. Five free-ranging koalas in southeast Queensland were implanted with thermal transmitters and data loggers waxed together as a single package. Body temperatures were recorded for variable periods ranging from 3 to 12 months. Diurnal rhythms in body temperature were detected irrespective of season. The long-term diurnal body temperature peak for all koalas occurred between 16:00 and 17:00 h and body temperature was 36.7-36.9 °C, the long-term nadir occurred between 07:00 and 08:00 h and body temperature was 35.4-35.7 °C. Koala body temperatures as low as 34.2 °C and as high as 39.0 °C were recorded. Thermolability became apparent when ambient temperatures were outside the deduced thermal neutral zone for koalas (14.5-24.5 °C): heat was accumulated during the day and dissipated during the cool of the night. While this study is the first to report on body temperature of free-ranging koalas in their normal behavioural context, further investigations are necessary to determine the physiological boundaries of the thermal niche for this species, in order to better equip models that will more accurately predict the impacts of climate change on koalas.


title: Introduction: microbes, networks, knowledge-disease ecology and emerging infectious diseases in time of COVID-19

text: This is an introduction to the topical collection Microbes, Networks, Knowledge: Disease Ecology in the twentieth Century, based on a workshop held at Queen Mary, University London on July 6-7 2016. More than twenty years ago, historian of science and medicine Andrew Mendelsohn asked, "Where did the modern, ecological understanding of epidemic disease come from?" Moving beyond Mendelsohn's answer, this collection of new essays considers the global history of disease ecology in the past century and shows how epidemics and pandemics have made "microbes complex".


In Reply: COVID-19: An Argument for Rapid Access to Laboratory Data Warehouses


Neonatal Management During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak: The Chinese Experience


docid: kxyobteq

title: "Slit Lamp Infection Protector (SLIP) cover for COVID-19"


title: Analysis of family cluster infection with Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia/ 中华急诊医学杂志

text: Objective@#To explore the regularity and characteristics of the transmission of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia(NCP) in crowd, for provide a reference for pre-hospital first aid to identify and screen NCP and close contact, at the same time to improve protection awareness and reduce infection rates.@*Method@#Retrospective analysis about the cases of familial aggregation transferred by Beijing Emergency Medical Center between January 20 and February 10, 2020,collect relevant information,including basic information,contact history,symptoms and signs, clinical outcome, etc.@*Results@#The mean incubation period of familial cluster cases was 5.6d,mean time from onset of symptoms to first visit was 1.8d;Among the 5 family cluster cases, 4 had fever,mean body temperature 38ºC, the Sp02 averaged 96%; Among the 5 family cluster cases, 4 had cough, 2 had fatigue, and 1 had dyspnea.@*Conclusion@#People are susceptible to infection to NCP,it spreads easily between close contacts, effective isolation is the focus of prevention and control among family members, it is also one of the difficulties of prevention and control.


title: Positive rectal swabs in young patients recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

text: OBJECTIVES: To investigate the widely concerned issue about positive real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results after discharge in patients recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: We identified seven cases of COVID-19 who was readmitted to hospital because of positive RT-PCR after discharge, including three pediatrics and four young adult patients. RESULTS: Six patients had positive rectal swabs but negative throat swabs, and one patient had positive throat swabs. All the patients continued to be asymptomatic and had unchanged chest computed tomography from previous images. The time from hospital discharge to positive RT-PCR after recovery was 7-11 days. The time from positive to negative rectal swabs was 5-23 days. CONCLUSION: The study might suggest the positive RT-PCR after recovery did not mean disease relapse or virus reinfection. Adding RT-PCR test of rectal swabs to the criteria for discharge or discontinuation of quarantine might be necessary.


Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agent Treatment in Patients With COVID-19


Care for Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19


title: Intensive Care Risk Estimation in COVID-19 Pneumonia Based on Clinical and Imaging Parameters: Experiences from the Munich Cohort

text: The evolving dynamics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the increasing infection numbers require diagnostic tools to identify patients at high risk for a severe disease course. Here we evaluate clinical and imaging parameters for estimating the need of intensive care unit (ICU) treatment. We collected clinical, laboratory and imaging data from 65 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. Two radiologists evaluated the severity of findings in computed tomography (CT) images on a scale from 1 (no characteristic signs of COVID-19) to 5 (confluent ground glass opacities in over 50% of the lung parenchyma). The volume of affected lung was quantified using commercially available software. Machine learning modelling was performed to estimate the risk for ICU treatment. Patients with a severe course of COVID-19 had significantly increased interleukin (IL)-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), and leukocyte counts and significantly decreased lymphocyte counts. The radiological severity grading was significantly increased in ICU patients. Multivariate random forest modelling showed a mean ± standard deviation sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 0.72 ± 0.1, 0.86 ± 0.16 and 0.80 ± 0.1 and a receiver operating characteristic-area under curve (ROC-AUC) of 0.79 ± 0.1. The need for ICU treatment is independently associated with affected lung volume, radiological severity score, CRP, and IL-6.


COVID-19 Pandemic: A pragmatic plan for Ayurveda Intervention


title: Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia

text: BACKGROUND: The initial cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)-infected pneumonia (NCIP) occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019 and January 2020. We analyzed data on the first 425 confirmed cases in Wuhan to determine the epidemiologic characteristics of NCIP. METHODS: We collected information on demographic characteristics, exposure history, and illness timelines of laboratory-confirmed cases of NCIP that had been reported by January 22, 2020. We described characteristics of the cases and estimated the key epidemiologic time-delay distributions. In the early period of exponential growth, we estimated the epidemic doubling time and the basic reproductive number. RESULTS: Among the first 425 patients with confirmed NCIP, the median age was 59 years and 56% were male. The majority of cases (55%) with onset before January 1, 2020, were linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, as compared with 8.6% of the subsequent cases. The mean incubation period was 5.2 days (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.1 to 7.0), with the 95th percentile of the distribution at 12.5 days. In its early stages, the epidemic doubled in size every 7.4 days. With a mean serial interval of 7.5 days (95% CI, 5.3 to 19), the basic reproductive number was estimated to be 2.2 (95% CI, 1.4 to 3.9). CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of this information, there is evidence that human-to-human transmission has occurred among close contacts since the middle of December 2019. Considerable efforts to reduce transmission will be required to control outbreaks if similar dynamics apply elsewhere. Measures to prevent or reduce transmission should be implemented in populations at risk. (Funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and others.).


Complement activation in patients with COVID-19: A novel therapeutic target


Is asthma protective against COVID-19?


title: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA contamination of inanimate surfaces and virus viability in a health care emergency unit

text: OBJECTIVES: To detect possible severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA contamination of inanimate surfaces in areas at high risk of aerosol formation by patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: Sampling was performed in the emergency unit and the sub-intensive care ward. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was extracted from swabbed surfaces and objects and subjected to real-time RT-PCR targeting RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and E genes. Virus isolation from positive samples was attempted in vitro on Vero E6 cells. RESULTS: Twenty-six samples were collected and only two were positive for low-level SARS-CoV-2 RNA, both collected on the external surface of continuous positive airway pressure helmets. All transport media were inoculated onto susceptible cells, but none induced a cytopathic effect on day 7 of culture. CONCLUSIONS: Even though daily contact with inanimate surfaces and patient fomites in contaminated areas may be a medium of infection, our data obtained in real-life conditions suggest that it might be less extensive than hitherto recognized.


COVID-19 and endocrine diseases. A statement from the European Society of Endocrinology


Methanol Poisoning Emerging as the Result of COVID-19 Outbreak; Radiologic Perspective


title: Establishing Telemedicine in an Academic Total Joint Arthroplasty Practice: Needs and Opportunities Highlighted by the COVID-19 Pandemic

text: The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted rapid restructuring of the healthcare system in an effort to stop the spread of the virus and to treat patients who are acutely ill with COVID-19, while continuing to provide outpatient care for the remainder of patients. To help control spread of this pandemic, many centers have boosted telemedicine capability to care for patients who would typically be seen in person in outpatient settings, including total joint arthroplasty clinics. We review key components relevant to the establishment and effective use of telemedicine, focused on patient education, practice logistics, technological considerations, and sensitive patient health information-associated compliance factors, which are necessary to provide care remotely for total joint arthroplasty patients.


On the usefulness of point-of-care antibody tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in community screening settings


Letter in response to article in journal of infection: "Cardiovascular complications in COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis"


title: Setting up an Easy-to-Use Machine Learning Pipeline for Medical Decision Support: A Case Study for COVID-19 Diagnosis Based on Deep Learning with CT Scans

text: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) constitutes an ongoing global health problem with significant morbidity and mortality. It usually presents characteristic findings on a chest CT scan, which may lead to early detection of the disease. A timely and accurate diagnosis of COVID-19 is the cornerstone for the prompt management of the patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of an automated machine learning algorithm in the diagnosis of Covid-19 pneumonia using chest CT scans. Diagnostic performance was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, and positive predictive value. The method's average precision was 0.932. We suggest that auto-ML platforms help users with limited ML expertise train image recognition models by only uploading the examined dataset and performing some basic settings. Such methods could deliver significant potential benefits for patients in the future by allowing for earlier disease detection and care.


title: Carbon monoxide-dependent transcriptional changes in a thermophilic, carbon monoxide-utilizing, hydrogen-evolving bacterium Calderihabitans maritimus KKC1 revealed by transcriptomic analysis

text: Calderihabitans maritimus KKC1 is a thermophilic, carbon monoxide (CO)-utilizing, hydrogen-evolving bacterium that harbors seven cooS genes for anaerobic CO dehydrogenases and six hyd genes for [NiFe] hydrogenases and capable of using a variety of electron acceptors coupled to CO oxidation. To understand the relationships among these unique features and the transcriptional adaptation of the organism to CO, we performed a transcriptome analysis of C. maritimus KKC1 grown under 100% CO and N2 conditions. Of its 3114 genes, 58 and 32 genes were significantly upregulated and downregulated in the presence of CO, respectively. A cooS-ech gene cluster, an "orphan" cooS gene, and bidirectional hyd genes were upregulated under CO, whereas hydrogen-uptake hyd genes were downregulated. Transcriptional changes in anaerobic respiratory genes supported the broad usage of electron acceptors in C. maritimus KKC1 under CO metabolism. Overall, the majority of the differentially expressed genes were oxidoreductase-like genes, suggesting metabolic adaptation to the cellular redox change upon CO oxidation. Moreover, our results suggest a transcriptional response mechanism to CO that involves multiple transcription factors, as well as a CO-responsive transcriptional activator (CooA). Our findings shed light on the diverse mechanisms for transcriptional and metabolic adaptations to CO in CO-utilizing and hydrogen-evolving bacteria.


title: The need for Early Intervention for Psychosis to persist throughout the covid-19 pandemic and beyond

text: In the last three decades, Early Intervention for psychosis services have been established worldwide and have resulted in superior symptomatic and functional outcomes for people affected by psychotic disorders. These improved outcomes are a result of reducing delays to treatment and the provision of specialized, holistic interventions. The covid-19 pandemic poses significant challenges to the delivery of these services, such as undetected cases or long delays to treatment. Furthermore, the covid-19 pandemic will likely increase the mental health needs of communities, including the incidence of psychotic disorders. In this perspective piece, we provide suggestions as to how early intervention for psychosis services can adapt within this environment, such as utilizing novel technologies. Finally, we argue that despite the economic consequences of the pandemic, the funding for mental health services, including early intervention services, should be increased in line with the need for these services during and beyond the pandemic.


How a team of Venezuelan expats is fighting COVID-19 at home


Expression of Receptors for SARS-CoV-2 in the Gut of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease


Containing COVID-19 in rural and remote areas: experiences from China


Special Issue in Honour of Michael B Robinson


title: Optimizing telemedicine to facilitate amyotrophic lateral sclerosis clinical trials

text: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has the largest drug pipeline among neuromuscular diseases, with over 160 companies actively involved in ALS research. There is a growing need to recruit trial participants, but ALS patients often have limited mobility and most ALS trials are conducted in a small number of major centers. These factors effectively limit patient participation, particularly for those in rural areas. The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has necessitated the more widespread use of telemedicine technology for clinical care, and has prompted consideration of its increased use for clinical trials. In this opinion piece, we describe the current state of telemedicine for recruitment, consenting, and screening of participants for clinical trials. We also summarize the available data on remote administration of outcome measures. Current challenges include validation of outcome measures for remote assessment, as well as technological, regulatory, and licensure barriers.


title: An update on the status of COVID-19: a comprehensive review

text: The last two decades have witnessed two large-scale pandemics caused by coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). At the end of 2019, another novel coronavirus, designated as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), hit Wuhan, a city in the center of China, and subsequently spread rapidly to the whole world. Latest reports revealed that more than 800 thousand people in over 200 countries are involved in the epidemic disease by SARS-CoV-2. Due to the high mortality rate and the lack of optimum therapeutics, it is crucial to understand the biological characteristics of the virus and its possible pathogenesis to respond to the SARS-CoV-2. Rapid diagnostics and effective therapeutics are also important interventions for the management of infection control. However, the rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 exerted tremendous challenges on its diagnostics and therapeutics. Therefore, there is an urgent need to summarize the existing research results to guide decision-making on the prioritization of resources for research and development. In this review, we focus on our current understanding of epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnostics and therapeutics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).


title: Modelling provincial Covid-19 epidemic data in Italy using an adjusted time-dependent SIRD model

text: In this paper we develop a predictive model for the spread of COVID-19 infection at a provincial (i.e. EU NUTS-3) level in Italy by using official data from the Italian Ministry of Health integrated with data extracted from daily official press conferences of regional authorities and from local newspaper websites. This integration is mainly concerned with COVID-19 cause specific death data which are not available at NUTS-3 level from open official data data channels. An adjusted time-dependent SIRD model is used to predict the behavior of the epidemic, specifically the number of susceptible, infected, deceased and recovered people. Predictive model performance is evaluated using comparison with real data.


title: Vietnamese Public Health Practices in the Advent of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons for Developing Countries

text: The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) presents a great challenge to developing countries with limited access to public health measures in grassroots communities. The World Health Organization lauded the Vietnamese government for its proactive and steady investment in health facilities that mitigate the risk of the infectious disease in Vietnam. This short communication presents cases that could benchmark public health policies in developing countries.


Management of Digestive Disorders and Procedures Associated With COVID-19


Does asthma affect morbidity or severity of COVID-19?


Does asthma affect morbidity or severity of Covid-19?


title: Un scénario de déconfinement compatible avec une reprise économique./ A scenario to safely ease the covid-19 lockdown while allowing economic recovery

text: If they work as expected, the strict containment measures enforced to stop the French Covid-19 epidemic will leave a large proportion of the population "naive" about the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In these conditions, how can we prevent the epidemic from rebounding, at a time when this restrictive policy will soon become untenable economically and socially? Based on the figures, now well known, of the lethality of covid-19 according to age classes, I suggest that a gradual release of the containment be instituted, which will keep retirees in isolation (the 65+ age class), whose risk is maximal and the impact on economic production the lowest. This scenario might be applicable to most European countries that enforce mandatory retirement ages for most of workers.


Effective coronavirus reduction by various production steps during the manufacture of plasma-derived medicinal products


title: The correlation between the spread of COVID-19 infections and weather variables in 30 Chinese provinces and the impact of Chinese government mitigation plans

text: On February 1, 2020, China announced a novel coronavirus CoVID-19 outbreak to the public. CoVID-19 was classified as an epidemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Although the disease was discovered and concentrated in Hubei Province, China, it was exported to all of the other Chinese provinces and spread globally. As of this writing, all plans have failed to contain the novel coronavirus disease, and it has continued to spread to the rest of the world. This study aimed to explore and interpret the effect of environmental and metrological variables on the spread of coronavirus disease in 30 provinces in China, as well as to investigate the impact of new China regulations and plans to mitigate further spread of infections. This article forecasts the size of the disease spreading based on time series forecasting. The growing size of CoVID-19 in China for the next 210 days is estimated by predicting the expected confirmed and recovered cases. The results revealed that weather conditions largely influence the spread of coronavirus in most of the Chinese provinces. This study has determined that increasing temperature and short-wave radiation would positively increase the number of confirmed cases, mortality rate, and recovered cases. The findings of this study agree with the results of our previous study.


PSGE Statement on Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgeries during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines. March 30, 2020


Corticosteroids in patients with COVID-19: what about the control group?


title: Liability of clinical oncologists and the COVID-19 emergency: Between hopes and concerns

text: To contain COVID-19 spread, Italy is under a global lockdown since February 21, 2020, except for health services and food supply. In this scenario, growing apprehension concerning legal consequences is rising among health professionals due to several ethical and legal questions. Even if medical ethicists may approve patients' prioritization protocols, hospitals and health professionals remain highly exposed to liability. The so-called smart-working may be very useful, but it may harbor potential legal harms for health personnel and patients and safety. Moreover, personal umbrella policies also often exclude liability arising out of the transmission of a communicable disease, especially a pandemic state, is declared. Under the pressure of medical associations, Italian Government political forces have very recently presented an amendment to the recently released ordinances for the COVID-19 emergency aimed to reduce medical liability. Presumably, similar epidemics or other wide-scale similar events may happen again in an unpredictable future. Therefore, more articulated legal regulations are strongly needed starting from lessons learned from this epidemic.


Covid-19: government promises 100 000 tests per day in England by end of April


title: A Scientometric Analysis of Global Health Research

text: With the development and deepening of the process of global integration, global health is gaining increasing attention. An increasing number of studies have examined global health from diverse perspectives to promote the realization of global public health. The purpose of this research is to systematically and comprehensively evaluate the knowledge structure, knowledge domain, and evolution trend in the field of global health research. Based on the 14,692 document data retrieved from Web of Science Core Collection from 1996 to 2019, this article carried out a visual analysis of global health research from the perspective of scientific output characteristics, scientific research cooperation networks, keywords, and highly cited literature. The results show that scholars' interest in global health research is increasing, especially after the outbreak of SARS. USA, England, Canada, Australia, and China have the most prominent contributions to global health research. Significant authors, high impact journals and core institutions also identified. The study found that "global health governance", "global health diplomacy", "medical education", "global health education" and "antimicrobial resistance" are the research frontiers and hot spots. This study provides an overview and valuable guidance for researchers and related personnel to find the research direction and practice of global health.


COVID-19 Autopsies and Personal Protective Equipment


Behandling, omsorg og pleie for døende sykehjemspasienter med covid-19./ Behandling, omsorg og pleie for døende sykehjemspasienter med covid-19./ Palliative treatment and care for dying nursing home patients with COVID-19


Use of inhaled corticosteroids in asthma and coronavirus disease 2019: Keep calm and carry on


Use of inhaled corticosteroids in asthma and COVID-19 : Keep calm and carry on


title: Evaluation of 10 years of parainfluenza virus, human metapneumovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus infections in lung transplant recipients

text: Respiratory tract infection with pneumoviruses (PVs) and paramyxoviruses (PMVs) are increasingly associated with chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) in lung transplant recipients (LTRs). Ribavirin may be a treatment option but its effectiveness is unclear, especially with respect to infection severity. We retrospectively analyzed 10 years of PV/PMV infections in LTRs. The main end points were forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1 ) at 3 and 6 months postinfection, expressed as a percentage of pre-infection FEV1 and incidence of new or progressed CLAD 6 months postinfection. A total of 139 infections were included: 88 severe infections (63%) (defined as >10% FEV1 loss at infection) and 51 mild infections (37%) (≤10% FEV1 loss). Overall postinfection CLAD incidence was 20%. Associations were estimated on postinfection FEV1 for ribavirin vs no ribavirin (+13.2% [95% CI: 7.79; 18.67]) and severe vs mild infection (-11.1% [95% CI: -14.76; -7.37]). Factors associated with CLAD incidence at 6 months were ribavirin treatment (odds ratio (OR [95% CI]) 0.24 [0.10; 0.59]), severe infection (OR [95% CI] 4.63 [1.66; 12.88]), and mycophenolate mofetil use (OR [95% CI] 0.38 [0.14; 0.97]). These data provide valuable information about the outcomes of lung transplant recipients with these infections and suggests possible associations of ribavirin use and infection severity with long-term outcomes. Well-designed prospective trials are needed to confirm these findings.


title: Practical guidance for the management of adults with immune thrombocytopenia during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: This document aims to provide practical guidance for the assessment and management of patients with thrombocytopenia, with a particular focus on immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), during the COVID-19 pandemic. The intention is to support clinicians and, although recommendations have been provided, it is not a formal guideline. Nor is there sufficient evidence base to conclude that alternative approaches to treatment are incorrect. Instead, it is a consensus written by clinicians with an interest in ITP or coagulation disorders and reviewed by members of the UK ITP forum.


title: A Two-Phase Dynamic Contagion Model for COVID-19

text: In this paper, we propose a continuous-time stochastic intensity model, namely, two-phase dynamic contagion process(2P-DCP), for modelling the epidemic contagion of COVID-19 and investigating the lockdown effect based on the dynamic contagion model introduced by Dassios and Zhao (2011). It allows randomness to the infectivity of individuals rather than a constant reproduction number as assumed by standard models. Key epidemiological quantities, such as the distribution of final epidemic size and expected epidemic duration, are derived and estimated based on real data for various regions and countries. The associated time lag of the effect of intervention in each country or region is estimated. Our results are consistent with the incubation time of COVID-19 found by recent medical study. We demonstrate that our model could potentially be a valuable tool in the modeling of COVID-19. More importantly, the proposed model of 2P-DCP could also be used as an important tool in epidemiological modelling as this type of contagion models with very simple structures is adequate to describe the evolution of regional epidemic and worldwide pandemic.


title: View of Pakistani Residents toward Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) during a Rapid Outbreak: A Rapid Online Survey

text: BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a deadly disease that is affecting most of the countries worldwide. Public understanding, including knowledge about signs and symptoms, mode of transmission, and hygiene of COVID-19, is vital for designing effective control strategies during a public health crisis. The current study is aimed at investigating the public's perspective about COVID-19, including their knowledge, attitude, and practices. METHODS: A rapid online survey comprising 22 items was administered during the rapid outbreak of COVID-19 in Pakistan. Questions were focused on the prevention, transmission, clinical features, and control of COVID-19. In addition, the attitudes and practices of the participants were explored. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney tests, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and regression analysis were carried out during data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 1257 respondents participated in this study. Most of the respondents had good knowledge (good = 64.8%, average = 30.5%, poor = 4.7%) of COVID-19. Gender, marital status, education, and residence were observed to have a significant association with the knowledge score. A vast majority of the survey respondents (77.0%) believed that COVID-19 would be controlled successfully in Pakistan. The practices of wearing a mask (85.8%) and handwashing (88.1%) were common among the participants. CONCLUSION: The participants demonstrated good knowledge and reasonable attitudes and practices toward most aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Improvements in certain areas could be made by mass-level education.


title: A Randomized Trial of Instructor-led Training versus Video Lesson in Training Health Care Providers in Proper Donning and Doffing of Personal Protective Equipment

text: OBJECTIVE: This study compared live instructor-led training in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) donning and doffing with video-based instruction. It assessed the difference in performance between (i) attending one instructor-led training session in donning and doffing PPE one month prior to assessment, and (ii) watching training videos over the month. METHODS: This randomized controlled trial pilot study divided 21 medical students and junior doctors into 2 groups. Control group participants attended one instructor-led training session. Video group participants watched training videos demonstrating the same procedures, which they could freely watch again at home. After one month, a doctor performed a blind evaluation of performance using checklists. RESULTS: 19 participants were assessed after one month. The mean donning score was 84.8/100 for the instructor-led group and 88/100 for the video group; mean effect size 3,2 (95%CI: -7,5 to 9,5). The mean doffing score was 79.1/100 for the instructor group and 73.9/100 for the video group; mean effect size 5,2 (95%CI: -7,6 to 18). CONCLUSION: Our study found no significant difference in donning and doffing score between instructor-led and video lessons. Video training could be a fast and resource-efficient method of training in PPE donning and doffing in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2 and protective measures in dental clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: RESULTS: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a primary challenging public health issue for not only China but also the world On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the pandemic of COVID-19 had become a public health emergency of global concern As of May 12, 2020 COVID-19 has been reported in over 180 countries/regions, with a total of 4,178,156 confirmed cases and over 280,000 deaths The risk of cross-infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) might be elevated between dental specialists and patients due to the peculiarity of dental practice Therefore, detailed and effective infection control measures are imminently needed to prevent nosocomial coronavirus infection This paper, based on proven effective experience, relevant guidelines, and research, not only presents the fundamental knowledge about the name, etiologic characteristics, epidemiologic characteristics and clinical manifestations of COVID-19, transmission routes and risk points of SARS-CoV-2 in dental clinics but also provides recommended protective measures for dental professionals to interdict the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in dental clinics Classification schemes as well as color identification according to the results of the questionnaire survey and temperature measurement in precheck and triages are innovations proposed in this paper CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: This paper, based on proven effective experience, relevant guidelines, and research, not only presents the fundamental knowledge about the name, etiologic characteristics, epidemiologic characteristics and clinical manifestations of COVID-19, transmission routes and risk points of SARS-CoV-2 in dental clinics but also provides recommended protective measures for dental professionals to interdict the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in dental clinics


title: Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 among patients in the Oxford Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre primary care network: a cross-sectional study

text: BACKGROUND: There are few primary care studies of the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to identify demographic and clinical risk factors for testing positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) within the Oxford Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre primary care network. METHODS: We analysed routinely collected, pseudonymised data for patients in the RCGP Research and Surveillance Centre primary care sentinel network who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 between Jan 28 and April 4, 2020. We used multivariable logistic regression models with multiple imputation to identify risk factors for positive SARS-CoV-2 tests within this surveillance network. FINDINGS: We identified 3802 SARS-CoV-2 test results, of which 587 were positive. In multivariable analysis, male sex was independently associated with testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 (296 [18·4%] of 1612 men vs 291 [13·3%] of 2190 women; adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1·55, 95% CI 1·27-1·89). Adults were at increased risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 compared with children, and people aged 40-64 years were at greatest risk in the multivariable model (243 [18·5%] of 1316 adults aged 40-64 years vs 23 [4·6%] of 499 children; adjusted OR 5·36, 95% CI 3·28-8·76). Compared with white people, the adjusted odds of a positive test were greater in black people (388 [15·5%] of 2497 white people vs 36 [62·1%] of 58 black people; adjusted OR 4·75, 95% CI 2·65-8·51). People living in urban areas versus rural areas (476 [26·2%] of 1816 in urban areas vs 111 [5·6%] of 1986 in rural areas; adjusted OR 4·59, 95% CI 3·57-5·90) and in more deprived areas (197 [29·5%] of 668 in most deprived vs 143 [7·7%] of 1855 in least deprived; adjusted OR 2·03, 95% CI 1·51-2·71) were more likely to test positive. People with chronic kidney disease were more likely to test positive in the adjusted analysis (68 [32·9%] of 207 with chronic kidney disease vs 519 [14·4%] of 3595 without; adjusted OR 1·91, 95% CI 1·31-2·78), but there was no significant association with other chronic conditions in that analysis. We found increased odds of a positive test among people who are obese (142 [20·9%] of 680 people with obesity vs 171 [13·2%] of 1296 normal-weight people; adjusted OR 1·41, 95% CI 1·04-1·91). Notably, active smoking was linked with decreased odds of a positive test result (47 [11·4%] of 413 active smokers vs 201 [17·9%] of 1125 non-smokers; adjusted OR 0·49, 95% CI 0·34-0·71). INTERPRETATION: A positive SARS-CoV-2 test result in this primary care cohort was associated with similar risk factors as observed for severe outcomes of COVID-19 in hospital settings, except for smoking. We provide evidence of potential sociodemographic factors associated with a positive test, including deprivation, population density, ethnicity, and chronic kidney disease. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust.


title: Les professionnels de santé face à la pandémie de la maladie à coronavirus (COVID-19) : quels risques pour leur santé mentale ?/ [Health professionals facing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: What are the mental health risks?]

text: OBJECTIVES: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused major sanitary crisis worldwide. Half of the world has been placed in quarantine. In France, this large-scale health crisis urgently triggered the restructuring and reorganization of health service delivery to support emergency services, medical intensive care units and continuing care units. Health professionals mobilized all their resources to provide emergency aid in a general climate of uncertainty. Concerns about the mental health, psychological adjustment, and recovery of health care workers treating and caring for patients with COVID-19 are now arising. The goal of the present article is to provide up-to-date information on potential mental health risks associated with exposure of health professionals to the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Authors performed a narrative review identifying relevant results in the scientific and medical literature considering previous epidemics of 2003 (SARS-CoV-1) and 2009 (H1N1) with the more recent data about the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlighted most relevant data concerning the disease characteristics, the organizational factors and personal factors that may contribute to developing psychological distress and other mental health symptoms. RESULTS: The disease characteristics of the current COVID-19 pandemic provoked a generalized climate of wariness and uncertainty, particularly among health professionals, due to a range of causes such as the rapid spread of COVID-19, the severity of symptoms it can cause in a segment of infected individuals, the lack of knowledge of the disease, and deaths among health professionals. Stress may also be caused by organizational factors, such as depletion of personal protection equipment, concerns about not being able to provide competent care if deployed to new area, concerns about rapidly changing information, lack of access to up-to-date information and communication, lack of specific drugs, the shortage of ventilators and intensive care unit beds necessary to care for the surge of critically ill patients, and significant change in their daily social and family life. Further risk factors have been identified, including feelings of being inadequately supported, concerns about health of self, fear of taking home infection to family members or others, and not having rapid access to testing through occupational health if needed, being isolated, feelings of uncertainty and social stigmatization, overwhelming workload, or insecure attachment. Additionally, we discussed positive social and organizational factors that contribute to enhance resilience in the face of the pandemic. There is a consensus in all the relevant literature that health care professionals are at an increased risk of high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, burnout, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder, which could have long-term psychological implications. CONCLUSIONS: In the long run, this tragic health crisis should significantly enhance our understanding of the mental health risk factors among the health care professionals facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Reporting information such as this is essential to plan future prevention strategies. Protecting health care professionals is indeed an important component of public health measures to address large-scale health crisis. Thus, interventions to promote mental well-being in health care professionals exposed to COVID-19 need to be immediately implemented, and to strengthen prevention and response strategies by training health care professionals on mental help and crisis management.


title: Coronavirus: Comparing COVID-19, SARS and MERS in the eyes of AI

text: Novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an extremely contagious and quickly spreading Coronavirus disease. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-CoV, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)-CoV outbreak in 2002 and 2011 and current COVID-19 pandemic all from the same family of Coronavirus. The fatality rate due to SARS and MERS were higher than COVID-19 however, the spread of those were limited to few countries while COVID-19 affected more than two-hundred countries of the world. In this work, authors used deep machine learning algorithms along with innovative image pre-processing techniques to distinguish COVID-19 images from SARS and MERS images. Several deep learning algorithms were trained, and tested and four outperforming algorithms were reported: SqueezeNet, ResNet18, Inceptionv3 and DenseNet201. Original, Contrast limited adaptive histogram equalized and complemented image were used individually and in concatenation as the inputs to the networks. It was observed that inceptionv3 outperforms all networks for 3-channel concatenation technique and provide an excellent sensitivity of 99.5%, 93.1% and 97% for classifying COVID-19, MERS and SARS images respectively. Investigating deep layer activation mapping of the correctly classified images and miss-classified images, it was observed that some overlapping features between COVID-19 and MERS images were identified by the deep layer network. Interestingly these features were present in MERS images and 10 out of 144 images were miss-classified as COVID while only one out of 423 COVID-19 images was miss-classified as MERS. None of the MERS images was miss-classified to SARS and only one COVID-19 image was miss-classified as SARS. Therefore, it can be summarized that SARS images are significantly different from MERS and COVID-19 in the eyes of AI while there are some overlapping feature available between MERS and COVID-19.


O Anestesiologista e a COVID19./ [The Anesthesiologist and COVID-19]


title: Molecular conservation and differential mutation on ORF3a gene in Indian SARS-CoV2 genomes

text: A global emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic demands various studies related to genes and genomes of the SARS-CoV2. Among other important proteins, the role of accessory proteins are of immense importance in replication, regulation of infections of the coronavirus in the hosts. The largest accessory protein in the SARS-CoV2 genome is ORF3a which modulates the host response to the virus infection and consequently it plays an important role in pathogenesis. In this study, an attempt is made to decipher the conservation of nucleotides, dimers, codons and amino acids in the ORF3a genes across thirty-two genomes of Indian patients. ORF3a gene possesses single and double point mutations in Indian SARS-CoV2 genomes suggesting the change of SARS-CoV2's virulence property in Indian patients. We find that the parental origin of the ORF3a gene over the genomes of SARS-CoV2 and Pangolin-CoV is same from the phylogenetic analysis based on conservation of nucleotides and so on. This study highlights the accumulation of mutation on ORF3a in Indian SARS-CoV2 genomes which may provide the designing therapeutic approach against SARS-CoV2.


title: An evaluation of COVID-19 serological assays informs future diagnostics and exposure assessment

text: The world is entering a new era of the COVID-19 pandemic in which there is an increasing call for reliable antibody testing. To support decision making on the deployment of serology for either population screening or diagnostics, we present a detailed comparison of serological COVID-19 assays. We show that among the selected assays there is a wide diversity in assay performance in different scenarios and when correlated to virus neutralizing antibodies. The Wantai ELISA detecting total immunoglobulins against the receptor binding domain of SARS CoV-2, has the best overall characteristics to detect functional antibodies in different stages and severity of disease, including the potential to set a cut-off indicating the presence of protective antibodies. The large variety of available serological assays requires proper assay validation before deciding on deployment of assays for specific applications.


docid: wduugcwf

title: Cholecystectomia során bekövetkezo epeútsérülések ellátása

text: Biliary injury is a rare but a very serious complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). Our aim was to analyse the incidence of the biliary injuries and its therapeutic outcome on patients who underwent LC or converted LC. Our research was conducted at the 1st Department of Surgery, Semmelweis University, Budapest between 2006 and 2016, retrospectively. We analysed the LCs and converted LCs performed at our Department and as well as cases where the primary operations were conducted at other institutions but they were unable to provide the adequate therapy for the injury, thus the patients were transferred to our institution. At the 1st Department of Surgery complications occurred in 0,66% (30/4885) of all LCs. 327 converted LCs were done, complications occurred in 26 (7.95%) times. 22 patients were transferred to the 1st Department of Surgery from other institutions. Bilio-vascular injuries occurred in 61% (41/78). ERCP was performed in 25 cases with a 92% success rate. Reoperation was needed in 41% (28/41). Biliary reconstruction during the reoperation was performed via hepaticojejunostomy in 82% of all reoperations. The therapeutic solutions of LC's complications are complex. Therefore, the treatment is recommended only in institutions with appropriate experience.


Illicit drug use and harms in Australia in the context of COVID-19 and associated restrictions: Anticipated consequences and initial responses


Ethics Committee Reviews of Applications for Research Studies at 1 Hospital in China During the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Epidemic


title: Japanese citizens' behavioral changes and preparedness against COVID-19: An online survey during the early phase of the pandemic

text: The Japanese government instituted countermeasures against COVID-19, a pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus, in January 2020. Seeking "people's behavioral changes," in which the government called on the public to take precautionary measures or exercise self-restraint, was one of the important strategies. The purpose of this study is to investigate how and from when Japanese citizens have changed their precautionary behavior under circumstances in which the government has only requested their cooperation. This study uses micro data from a cross-sectional survey conducted on an online platform of an online research company, based on quota sampling that is representative of the Japanese population. By the end of March 2020, a total of 11,342 respondents, aged from 20 to 64 years, were recruited. About 85 percent reported practising the social distancing measures recommended by the government including more females than males and more older than younger participants. Frequent handwashing is conducted by 86 percent of all participants, 92 percent of female, and 87.9 percent of over-40 participants. The most important event influencing these precautionary actions was the infection aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which occurred in early February 2020 (23 percent). Information from the central and local governments, received by 60 percent of the participants, was deemed trustworthy by 50 percent. However, the results also showed that about 20 percent of the participants were reluctant to implement proper prevention measures. The statistical analysis indicated that the typical characteristics of those people were male, younger (under 30 years old), unmarried, from lower-income households, a drinking or smoking habit, and a higher extraversion score. To prevent the spread of infection in Japan, it is imperative to address these individuals and encourage their behavioural changes using various means to reach and influence them.


Inequity in Crisis Standards of Care


title: Evaluating epidemic forecasts in an interval format

text: For practical reasons, many forecasts of case, hospitalization and death counts in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic are issued in the form of central predictive intervals at various levels. This is also the case for the forecasts collected in the COVID-19 Forecast Hub run by the UMass-Amherst Influenza Forecasting Center of Excellence. Forecast evaluation metrics like the logarithmic score, which has been applied in several infectious disease forecasting challenges, are then not available as they require full predictive distributions. This note provides an overview of how established methods for the evaluation of quantile and interval forecasts can be applied to epidemic forecasts. Specifically, we discuss the computation and interpretation of the weighted interval score, which is a proper score that approximates the continuous ranked probability score. It can be interpreted as a generalization of the absolute error to probabilistic forecasts and allows for a simple decomposition into a measure of sharpness and penalties for over- and underprediction.


title: Short-Term Dexamethasone in Sars-CoV-2 Patients

text: BACKGROUND: Dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid, has anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties There is a hyperinflammatory response involved in the clinical course of patients with pneumonia due to SARS-CoV-2 To date, there has been no definite therapy for COVID-19 We reviewed the charts of SARS-CoV-2 patients with pneumonia and moderate to severely elevated CRP and worsening hypoxemia who were treated with early, short-term dexamethasone METHODS: We describe a series of 21 patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and were admitted to The Miriam Hospital in Providence, RI, and were treated with a short course of dexamethasone, either alone or in addition to current investigative therapies RESULTS: CRP levels decreased significantly following the start of dexamethasone from mean initial levels of 129 52 to 40 73 mg/L at time of discharge 71% percent of the patients were discharged home with a mean length of stay of 7 8 days None of the patients had escalation of care, leading to mechanical ventilation Two patients were transferred to inpatient hospice facilities on account of persistent hypoxemia, in line with their documented goals of care CONCLUSIONS: A short course of systemic corticosteroids among inpatients with SARS-CoV-2 with hypoxic respiratory failure was well tolerated, and most patients had improved outcomes This limited case series may not offer concrete evidence towards the benefit of corticosteroids in COVID-19 However, patients' positive response to short-term corticosteroids demonstrates that they may help blunt the severity of inflammation and prevent a severe hyperinflammatory phase, in turn reducing the length of stay, ICU admissions, and healthcare costs


Immune checkpoint inhibitors in SARS-CoV-2 infected cancer patients: the spark that ignites the fire?


title: Possible Cause of Inflammatory Storm and Septic Shock in Patients Diagnosed with (COVID-19)

text: The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection which has been known as Coronavirus diseases 2019 COVID-19 has become an endemic emergent situation by the World Health Organization. So far, no successful specific treatment has been found for this disease. As has been reported, most of non-survivor patients with COVID-19 (70%) had septic shock which was significantly higher than survived ones. Although the exact pathophysiology of septic shock in these patients is still unclear, it seems to be possible that part of it would be due to the administration of empiric antibiotics with inflammatory properties especially in the absence of bacterial infection. Herein, we have reviewed possible molecular pathways of septic shock in the patients who have received antibiotics with inflammatory properties which mainly is release of interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF- α) through different routes. Altogether, we highly recommend clinicians to look after those antibiotics with anti-inflammatory activity for both empiric antibiotic therapy and reducing the inflammation to prevent septic shock in patients with diagnosed COVID-19.


docid: fxqjywdq

title: COVID-19: Analytics Of Contagion On Inhomogeneous Random Social Networks

text: Motivated by the need for novel robust approaches to modelling the Covid-19 epidemic, this paper treats a population of $N$ individuals as an inhomogeneous random social network (IRSN). The nodes of the network represent different types of individuals and the edges represent significant social relationships. An epidemic is pictured as a contagion process that changes daily, triggered on day $0$ by a seed infection introduced into the population. Individuals' social behaviour and health status are assumed to be random, with probability distributions that vary with their type. First a formulation and analysis is given for the basic SI ("susceptible-infective") network contagion model, which focusses on the cumulative number of people that have been infected. The main result is an analytical formula valid in the large $N$ limit for the state of the system on day $t$ in terms of the initial conditions. The formula involves only one-dimensional integration. Next, more realistic SIR and SEIR network models, including"removed"(R) and"exposed"(E) classes, are formulated. These models also lead to analytical formulas that generalize the results for the SI network model. The framework can be easily adapted for analysis of different kinds of public health interventions, including vaccination, social distancing and quarantine. The formulas can be implemented numerically by an algorithm that efficiently incorporates the fast Fourier transform. Finally a number of open questions and avenues of investigation are suggested, such as the framework's relation to ordinary differential equation SIR models and agent based contagion models that are more commonly used in real world epidemic modelling.


COVID-19-associated Acute Hemorrhagic Necrotizing Encephalopathy: CT and MRI Features


How to address the coronavirus's outsized toll on people of colour


Managing hypertension during the COVID-19 pandemic


title: On the effectiveness of imposing restrictive measures in a graded Self-Organized Criticality epidemic spread model The case of COVID-19

text: The scope of this work is to serve as a guiding tool against subjective estimations on real pandemic situations (mainly due to the inability to acquire objective real data over whole populations). The previously introduced model of closed self-organized criticality (SOC), is adapted in the case of a virus-induced epidemic. In this version this physical model can distinguish the virus spread according to the virus aggressiveness. The study presented, highlights the critical value of virus density over a population. For low values of the initial virus density (lower than the critical value) it is proved that the virus-diffusion behavior is safe and quantitatively similar to usual real epidemical data. However, it is revealed that very close to the critical point, the critical slowing-down (CSD) phenomenon, introduced by the theory of critical phenomena, emerges, leading to a tremendous increase of both the percentage of active carriers and the duration of the epidemic. A behavior of the epidemic obeying to a second order phase transition, also occurs. For virus density values higher than the critical value, the epidemic duration becomes extremely prolonged. Additionally, the effect of the closed system population size revealed interesting properties. All these results, together with an investigation of the effectiveness of applying physical contact restriction measures, document scientifically their worthiness, while they also demonstrate the limits for which herd immunity holds safely. Finally, the model has been compared against real epidemic data in the case of Greece, which imposed restrictive measures consistently and in time.


title: Identification of COVID-19 can be quicker through artificial intelligence framework using a mobile phone-based survey when cities and towns are under quarantine

text: We propose the use of a machine learning algorithm to improve possible COVID-19 case identification more quickly using a mobile phone-based web survey. This method could reduce the spread of the virus in susceptible populations under quarantine.


title: The Definition and Risks of Cytokine Release Syndrome in 11 COVID-19-Affected Critically Ill Patients with Pneumonia: Analysis of Disease Characteristics

text: Corona Virus Disease 2019(COVID-19)-affected patients with severe immune abnormalities have a risk of cytokine release syndrome. The definition, prevention, and treatment of symptoms of cytokine release syndrome in critically ill patients with COVID-19 are important problems. This was a single-center case series of 11 COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) from The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University in China from January 26, 2020 to February 18, 2020. The termination date of follow-up was February 19, 2020. In this single-center analysis of 11 critically ill patients with COVID-19, 8 patients were determined to have characteristics of cytokine release syndrome (CRS), including pulmonary inflammation, fever, and dysfunction of non-pulmonary organs; an increase of- Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in peripheral blood was the highest risk factor and an early indicator of CRS in COVID-19.


title: Clinical Pharmacology Considerations for Developing Small-Molecule Treatments for COVID-19

text: Numerous drugs are being investigated for the treatment of COVID-19, including antivirals and therapies targeting complications related to COVID-19. The clinical presentation of COVID-19 varies from mild fever, cough, and dyspnea in the early stages of disease to severe complications such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, systemic hyperinflammation, and sepsis. A thorough understanding of the disease pathogenesis and the disease complications is essential to developing effective therapies to treat this potentially life-threatening disease. This review offers key clinical pharmacology considerations involved in the development of small molecules for the treatment of COVID-19. They are based on the major observed disease complications that impact drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination. We also address considerations regarding potential drug interactions, alternative routes and methods of administration, and dosing in patients on hemodialysis.


title: COVID-19 presenting as severe, persistent abdominal pain and causing late respiratory compromise in a 33-year-old man

text: A 33-year-old man presented repeatedly with severe abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Renal colic was suspected, and he was admitted for pain management. Questioning elicited an additional history of sore throat and mild, dry cough. Inflammatory markers were mildly raised (C reactive protein (CRP) 40 mg/L). Initial nasopharyngeal swabs were negative for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) by PCR. CT of the kidneys, ureters and bladder (CT KUB) was normal; however, CT of the thorax showed multifocal bilateral peripheral areas of consolidation consistent with COVID-19 infection. He developed respiratory compromise and was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU). Sputum was positive for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR, and culture grew Yersinia enterocolitica He recovered following supportive management and treatment with piperacillin-tazobactam.


title: Exploring the non-technical competencies for on-scene public health responders in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear emergencies: a qualitative study

text: OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to define and delineate specific non-technical competencies for first-line public health responders in Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) emergencies in China. STUDY DESIGN: A qualitative study was conducted in China involving interviews with key informants in the field of health response to CBRN disasters. METHODS: One-on-one in-depth interviews were carried out with 20 participants, including expert members of National Medical Response Teams for CBRN disasters, officials at emergency management authorities, and scholars of academic institutions related to CBRN emergency. Interviews were recorded using audio equipment, transcribed, and coded into codable passages as per grounded theory using NVivo software. Themes were identified within the transcriptions by using thematic analysis. RESULTS: A total of 159 codable passages were produced. Eight domains of non-technical core competencies were identified: (1) situation awareness, (2) communication skills, (3) collaboration, (4) resource management, (5) task management, (6) cultural competency, (7) austere environment skills, and (8) physical stamina. CONCLUSIONS: The study identified a variety of competencies for on-scene public health responders in CBRN emergencies. The findings of this study could specifically benefit development of strategy and improvement of content of education and training. Further research that involves input from the disaster response community at large is needed for the validation of these competencies.


COVID-19 Pandemic in India: What Lies Ahead


Managing the supportive care needs of those affected by COVID-19


title: What's New With the Old Coronaviruses?

text: Coronaviruses contribute to the burden of respiratory diseases in children, frequently manifesting in upper respiratory symptoms considered to be part of the "common cold." Recent epidemics of novel coronaviruses recognized in the 21st century have highlighted issues of zoonotic origins of transmissible respiratory viruses and potential transmission, disease, and mortality related to these viruses. In this review, we discuss what is known about the virology, epidemiology, and disease associated with pediatric infection with the common community-acquired human coronaviruses, including species 229E, OC43, NL63, and HKU1, and the coronaviruses responsible for past world-wide epidemics due to severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus.


docid: uanjpktz

title: Transition to a virtual multidisciplinary tumor board during the COVID-19 pandemic: University of Pittsburgh experience

text: Multidisciplinary conferences (MDC) are an important component of head and neck oncologic care including diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. Virtual MDC allows for improved collaboration between providers at distant sites and proper allocation of health care resources in a time of crisis. When approached systematically, a virtual MDC is feasible to design and implement in a large academic medical center with multiple satellite hospitals.


The COVID-19 crisis: A unique opportunity to expand dermatology to underserved populations


title: The spectrum of COVID-19-associated dermatologic manifestations: an international registry of 716 patients from 31 countries

text: BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has associated cutaneous manifestations. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the diversity of cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19, and facilitate understanding of underlying pathophysiology. METHODS: Case series from an international registry from the American Academy of Dermatology and International League of Dermatological Societies. RESULTS: The registry collected 716 cases of new-onset dermatologic symptoms in patients with confirmed/suspected COVID-19. Of the 171 patients in the registry with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, the most common morphologies were morbilliform (22%), pernio-like (18%), urticarial (16%), macular erythema (13%), vesicular (11%), papulosquamous (9.9%), and retiform purpura (6.4%). Pernio-like lesions were common in patients with mild disease, while retiform purpura presented exclusively in ill, hospitalized patients. LIMITATIONS: We cannot estimate incidence or prevalence. Confirmation bias is possible. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the array of cutaneous manifestations associated with COVID-19. Many morphologies were non-specific, while others may provide insight into potential immune or inflammatory pathways in COVID-19 pathophysiology.


docid: ufbmmlmj

title: Quarantine and its legal dimension

text: Quarantine and isolation are public health measures used for centuries to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Quarantine is separation of persons who have been exposed to an infection but asymptomatic, while isolation is separation of infected patients. Voluntary quarantine is preferred, but if necessary, it can be mandatory. These implementations can lead to restrictions on individual liberties, leading to ethical and legal problems. Isolation and quarantine enforcement are regulated by laws. Those who do not follow the quarantine rules could be punished. Isolation and quarantine practices in our country are described in General Hygiene Law. In this study the importance of quarantine, when and how it is applied, and its ethical and especially legal dimension are discussed.


Air, Surface Environmental, and Personal Protective Equipment Contamination by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) From a Symptomatic Patient


Editorial. A neurosurgery resident's response to COVID-19: anything but routine


Returning Chinese school-aged children and adolescents to physical activity in the wake of COVID-19: Actions and precautions


Role of Helmet-Delivered Noninvasive Pressure Support Ventilation in COVID-19 Patients


title: Staggered release policies for COVID-19 control: Costs and benefits of relaxing restrictions by age and risk

text: Lockdown and social distancing restrictions have been widely used as part of policy efforts aimed at controlling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since these restrictions have a negative impact on the economy, there exists a strong incentive to relax these policies while protecting public health. Using a modified SEIR epidemiological model, this paper explores the costs and benefits associated with the sequential release of specific groups based on age and risk from lockdown and social distancing measures. The results in this paper suggest that properly designed staggered-release policies can do better than simultaneous-release policies in terms of protecting the most vulnerable members of a population, reducing health risks overall, and increasing economic activity.


Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on general surgery training program: An Italian experience


Mitigate risks of medication interruption due to COVID-19 for elderly with chronic diseases


title: Using informatics to guide public health policy during the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA

text: BACKGROUND: Current and future pandemics will require informatics solutions to assess the risks, resources and policies to guide better public health decision-making. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of all COVID-19 cases and deaths in the USA on a population- and resource-adjusted basis (as of 24 April 2020) by applying biomedical informatics and data visualization tools to several public and federal government datasets, including analysis of the impact of statewide stay-at-home orders. RESULTS: There were 2753.2 cases and 158.0 deaths per million residents, respectively, in the USA with variable distributions throughout divisions, regions and states. Forty-two states and Washington, DC, (84.3%) had statewide stay-at-home orders, with the remaining states having population-adjusted characteristics in the highest risk quartile. CONCLUSIONS: Effective national preparedness requires clearly understanding states' ability to predict, manage and balance public health needs through all stages of a pandemic. This will require leveraging data quickly, correctly and responsibly into sound public health policies.


Health psychology and the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic: A call for research


Public health perspectives of smokeless tobacco and areca nut use in the COVID-19 era


title: COVID-19 Is an Independent Risk Factor for Acute Ischemic Stroke

text: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an active worldwide pandemic with diverse complications. Stroke as a presentation has not been strongly associated with COVID-19. The authors aimed to retrospectively review a link between COVID-19 and acute stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective case-control study of 41 cases and 82 control subjects matched by age, sex, and risk factors. Cases were patients who underwent stroke alert imaging with confirmed acute stroke on imaging between March 16 and April 5, 2020, at 6 hospitals across New York City. Control subjects were those who underwent stroke alertimaging during the same timeframe without imaging evidence of acute infarction. Data pertaining to diagnosis of COVID-19 infection, patient demographics, and risk factors were collected. A univariate analysis was performed to assess the covariate effect of risk factors and COVID-19 status on stroke imaging with positive findings. RESULTS: The mean age for cases and controls was 65.5 ± 15.3 years and 68.8 ± 13.2 years, respectively. Of patients with acute ischemic stroke, 46.3% had COVID-19 infection compared with 18.3% of controls (P = .001). After adjusting for age, sex, and risk factors, COVID-19 infection had a significant independent association with acute ischemic stroke compared with control subjects (OR, 3.9; 95% CI, 1.7-8.9; P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that COVID-19 infection is significantly associated with imaging confirmation of acute ischemic stroke, and patients with COVID-19 should undergo more aggressive monitoring for stroke.


title: Isolation of a Chinook Salmon Bafinivirus (CSBV) in Imported Goldfish Carassius auratus L. in the United Kingdom and Evaluation of Its Virulence in Resident Fish Species

text: This is the first record of a fish nidovirus isolated from a consignment of goldfish at the United Kingdom (UK) border. The full-length viral genome was 25,985 nt, sharing a 97.9% nucleotide identity with the Chinook salmon bafinivirus (CSBV) NIDO with two deletions of 537 and 480 nt on the ORF Ia protein. To assess the potential impact on UK fish species, Atlantic salmon, common carp and goldfish were exposed to the virus via an intraperitoneal (IP) injection and bath challenge. Moribundity was recorded in only 8% of IP-injected goldfish. A high viral load, ≈107 of the CSBV PpIa gene, was measured in the kidney of moribund goldfish. Mild histopathological changes were observed in the kidneys of challenged carps. Ultrastructural observations in renal tubule epithelial cells of goldfish showed cylindrical tubes (≈15 nm in diameter) and tubular structures budding spherical virions (≈200 nm in diameter) with external spike-like structures. Negative staining showed both circular and bacilliform virions. Seroconversion was measured in common carp and goldfish but not in Atlantic salmon. This study reinforces the potential risk of novel and emerging pathogens being introduced to recipient countries via the international ornamental fish trade and the importance of regular full health screens at the border inspection posts to reduce this risk.


Foot and ankle service adaptation in response to COVID-19 and beyond


SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing in Africa: needs and challenges


title: China experience from COVID-19: Mental health in mandatory quarantine zones urgently requires intervention

text: The study investigated the quarantine of COVID-19 and its impact on mental health. The results showed that there was a significant difference in PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 scores between the quarantine group and the non-quarantine group. As a result, the mental health of residents in mandatory quarantine zones urgently requires intervention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).


Clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients combined with allergy


"Mag ik weer op het spreekuur komen, dokter?"


title: Erythropoietin Induced Hemoglobin Sub-Unit Beta may Stimulate Innate Immune RNA Virus Pattern Recognition, Suppress Reactive Oxygen Species, Reduce ACE2 Viral Doorway Opening and Neutrophil Extracellular Traps against Covid-19

text: Erythropoietin may stimulate innate immunity against RNA viruses, such as Covid-19, through hemoglobin sub-unit Beta acting on the retinoic acid inducible gene I (RIG-1) and melanoma differentiation associated gene 5 (MDA5) viral pattern recognition receptors, causing interferon production and also maintains the vascular endothelium, a major target of SARS-CoV-2, possibly reducing thrombotic events which are becoming increasingly recognized complications of COVID19. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


title: Recommendations from the CSO-HNS taskforce on performance of tracheotomy during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: INTRODUCTION: The performance of tracheotomy is a common procedural request by critical care departments to the surgical services of general surgery, thoracic surgery and otolaryngology - head & neck surgery. A Canadian Society of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (CSO-HNS) task force was convened with multi-specialty involvement from otolaryngology-head & neck surgery, general surgery, critical care and anesthesiology to develop a set of recommendations for the performance of tracheotomies during the COVID-19 pandemic. MAIN BODY: The tracheotomy procedure is highly aerosol generating and directly exposes the entire surgical team to the viral aerosol plume and secretions, thereby increasing the risk of transmission to healthcare providers. As such, we believe extended endotracheal intubation should be the standard of care for the entire duration of ventilation in the vast majority of patients. Pre-operative COVID-19 testing is highly recommended for any non-emergent procedure. CONCLUSION: The set of recommendations in this document highlight the importance of avoiding tracheotomy procedures in patients who are COVID-19 positive if at all possible. Recommendations for appropriate PPE and environment are made for COVID-19 positive, negative and unknown patients requiring consideration of tracheotomy. The safety of healthcare professionals who care for ill patients and who keep critical infrastructure operating is paramount.


title: Confronting Another Pandemic: Lessons from HIV can Inform Our COVID-19 Response

text: The novel coronavirus 2019 illness (COVID-19) has completely transformed and uprooted lives across the globe. While different diseases, there are critical observations and lessons to be learned from the ongoing HIV epidemic to inform our response to COVID-19. We reflect on how this relates to (1) testing, including contact tracing; (2) health system redesign; (3) telehealth; (4) health disparities; (5) political denial, with inadequate and uncoordinated governmental response; (6) occupational exposure; and (7) complex reactions among healthcare providers. Decades of experiences with HIV provide an important framework for moving forward as we combat COVID-19.


title: COVID-19 and myeloma: what are the implications for now and in the future?

text: The pandemic has affected every aspect of myeloma care. Immediate focus is minimising risk of contracting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the sequelae of infection. However, what does the future hold for our patients? What lessons will be taken forward to tackle myeloma in the fiscally constrained future? If we embrace the challenges that will emerge in the post-pandemic environment, the treatment delivered to patients could be more cost-effective and better tailored than before. Healthcare delivery post-COVID-19 will not return to how it was, and now is the time to invest in novel strategies to deliver the best possible outcomes for patients.


Functional characteristics of patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia at 30â days post infection


title: Is the lockdown important to prevent the COVID-9 pandemic? Effects on psychology, environment and economy-perspective

text: COVID-19's daily increasing cases and deaths have led to worldwide lockdown, quarantine and some restrictions. This study aims to analyze the effect of lockdown days on the spread of coronavirus in countries. COVID-19 cases and lockdown days data were collected for 49 countries that implemented the lockdown between certain dates (without interruption). The correlation tests were used for data analysis based on unconstrained (normal) and constrained (Tukey-lambda). The lockdown days was significantly correlated with COVID-19 pandemic based on unconstrained (r = -0.9126, F-ratio = 6.1654; t-ratio = 2.40; prob > .0203 with 49 observations) and based on Tukey-lambda (r = 0.7402, λ = 0.14). The lockdown, one of the social isolation restrictions, has been observed to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic, and showed that the spread of the virus can be significantly reduced by this preventive restriction in this study. This study offers initial evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic can be suppressed by a lockdown. The application of lockdown by governments is also thought to be effective on psychology, environment and economy besides having impact on Covid-19.


title: Prospects and limits of SIR-type Mathematical Models to Capture the COVID-19 Pandemic

text: For the description of a pandemic mathematical models could be interesting. Both for physicians and politicians as a base for decisions to treat the disease. The responsible estimation of parameters is a main issue of mathematical pandemic models. Especially a good choice of $\beta$ as the number of others that one infected person encounters per unit time (per day) influences the adequateness of the results of the model. For the actual COVID-19 pandemic some aspects of the parameter choice will be discussed. Because of the incompatibility of the data of the Johns-Hopkins-University to the data of the German Robert-Koch-Institut we use the COVID-19 data of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as a base for the parameter estimation. Two different mathematical methods for the data analysis will be discussed in this paper and possible sources of trouble will be shown. As example of the parameter choice serve the data of the USA and the UK. The resulting parameters will be used estimated and used in W.\,O. Kermack and A.\,G. McKendrick's SIR model. Strategies for the commencing and ending of social and economic shutdown measures are discussed. The numerical solution of the ordinary differential equation system of the modified SIR model is being done with a Runge-Kutta integration method of fourth order. At the end the applicability of the SIR model could be shown essentially. Suggestions about appropriate points in time at which to commence with lockdown measures based on the acceleration rate of infections conclude the paper.


title: First Principle Simulation of Coated Hydroxychloroquine on Ag, Au and Pt Nanoparticle as a Potential Candidate for Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)

text: The {\it{in vitro}} antiviral activity of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and chloroquine (CQ) against SARS-CoV-2 from the first month of pandemic proposed these drugs as the appropriate therapeutic candidate, although their side effect directed the clinical test toward optimizing the safe utilization strategies. The noble metal nanoparticles (NP) as promising materials with antiviral and antibacterial properties can deliver the drug to the target agent and decrease the side effect. In this work, we have applied quantum mechanical and classical atomistic molecular dynamics computational approaches to demonstrate the adsorption properties of HCQ on Ag, Au, AgAu, and Pt nanoparticles. The adsorption energies (less than -30 kcal/mole) were established for HCQ, and the (non)perturbative effects of this drug on the plasmonic absorption spectra of AgNP and AuNP have characterized with time-dependent density functional theory. The effect of size and compositions of nanoparticle on the coating with HCQ and CQ have obtained and proposed the appropriate candidate for drug delivery. This kind of modeling could help the experimental groups to find the efficient and safe therapies.


Coronella, pour une surveillance efficace du COVID-19


Hematologic parameters in patients with COVID-19 infection: a reply


Acute Kidney Injury Due to Collapsing Glomerulopathy Following COVID-19 Infection


title: Laboratory Findings of COVID-19 Infection are Conflicting in Different Age Groups and Pregnant Women: A Literature Review

text: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a new type and rapidly spread viral pneumonia, is now producing an outbreak of pandemic proportions. The clinical features and laboratory results of different age groups are different due to the general susceptibility of the disease. The laboratory findings of COVID-19 in pregnant women are also conflicting. Para-clinical investigations including laboratory tests and radiologic findings play an important role in early diagnosis and treatment monitoring of COVID-19. The majority of previous reports on the COVID-19 laboratory results were based on data from the general population and limited information is available based on age difference and pregnancy status. This review aimed to describe the COVID-19 laboratory findings in neonates, children, adults, elderly and pregnant women altogether for the first time. The most attracting and reliable markers of COVID-19 in patients were: normal C-reactive protein (CRP) and very different and conflicting laboratory results regardless of clinical symptoms in neonates, normal or temporary elevated CRP, conflicting WBC count results and procalcitonin elevation in children, lymphopenia and elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in adult patients, lymphopenia and elevated CRP and LDH in the elderly people, leukocytosis and elevated neutrophil ratio in pregnant women.


Ethics for surgeons during the COVID-19 pandemic


title: Respiratory disease in rhesus macaques inoculated with SARS-CoV-2

text: An outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by a novel coronavirus (named SARS-CoV-2) and has a case fatality rate of approximately 2%, started in Wuhan (China) in December 20191,2. Following an unprecedented global spread3, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Although data on COVID-19 in humans are emerging at a steady pace, some aspects of the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 can be studied in detail only in animal models, in which repeated sampling and tissue collection is possible. Here we show that SARS-CoV-2 causes a respiratory disease in rhesus macaques that lasts between 8 and 16 days. Pulmonary infiltrates, which are a hallmark of COVID-19 in humans, were visible in lung radiographs. We detected high viral loads in swabs from the nose and throat of all of the macaques, as well as in bronchoalveolar lavages; in one macaque, we observed prolonged rectal shedding. Taken together, the rhesus macaque recapitulates the moderate disease that has been observed in the majority of human cases of COVID-19. The establishment of the rhesus macaque as a model of COVID-19 will increase our understanding of the pathogenesis of this disease, and aid in the development and testing of medical countermeasures.


COVID-19: the physician's response in the first phase


Pandemic preparedness: doctor leads campaign for UK government to release report


Sacubitril/valsartan in COVID-19 patients: the need for trials


How to manage obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) under COVID-19: A clinician's guide from the International College of Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorders (ICOCS) and the Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders Research Network (OCRN) of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology