title: Spread and dynamics of the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy: Effects of emergency containment measures

text: The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Italy prompted drastic measures for transmission containment. We examine the effects of these interventions, based on modeling of the unfolding epidemic. We test modeling options of the spatially explicit type, suggested by the wave of infections spreading from the initial foci to the rest of Italy. We estimate parameters of a metacommunity Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Recovered (SEIR)-like transmission model that includes a network of 107 provinces connected by mobility at high resolution, and the critical contribution of presymptomatic and asymptomatic transmission. We estimate a generalized reproduction number ([Formula: see text] = 3.60 [3.49 to 3.84]), the spectral radius of a suitable next-generation matrix that measures the potential spread in the absence of containment interventions. The model includes the implementation of progressive restrictions after the first case confirmed in Italy (February 21, 2020) and runs until March 25, 2020. We account for uncertainty in epidemiological reporting, and time dependence of human mobility matrices and awareness-dependent exposure probabilities. We draw scenarios of different containment measures and their impact. Results suggest that the sequence of restrictions posed to mobility and human-to-human interactions have reduced transmission by 45% (42 to 49%). Averted hospitalizations are measured by running scenarios obtained by selectively relaxing the imposed restrictions and total about 200,000 individuals (as of March 25, 2020). Although a number of assumptions need to be reexamined, like age structure in social mixing patterns and in the distribution of mobility, hospitalization, and fatality, we conclude that verifiable evidence exists to support the planning of emergency measures.


Nuclear Medicine Operations in the Times of COVID-19: Strategies, Precautions, and Experiences


title: Procedural sedation in the COVID-19 era

text: Resuming procedural sedation services for elective procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic requires unique considerations to ensure safety for patients and providers. Guidelines for resuming these procedures, including timing, screening and testing, use of personal protective equipment, and case planning are discussed. Approaches to procedural sedation can be modified to reduce the risk of droplet or aerosol transmission by decreasing nasal cannula oxygen supplementation flows. Decreasing the need for oxygen supplement can be accomplished by opioid and sedative sparing strategies, including the use of multimodal analgesia and non-pharmacologic analgesic and anxiolytic interventions. Recommendations are made for patients who are COVID-19 positive and require procedural sedation.


title: Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) and Cardiovascular Complications

text: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic. It has spread to more than 100 countries, and more than 1 million cases have been confirmed. Although coronavirus causes severe respiratory infections in humans, accumulating data have demonstrated cardiac complications and poor outcome in patients with COVID-19. A large percent of patients have underlying cardiovascular disease, and they are at a high risk of developing cardiac complications. The basics of the virus, the clinical manifestations, and the possible mechanisms of cardiac complications in patients with COVID-19 are reviewed. Before an effective vaccine or medicine is available, supportive therapy and identifying patients who are at high risk of cardiac complications are important.


In these difficult times of COVID-19, urologic research cannot stop: COVID-19 pandemic and reconstructive urology highlighted in International Brazilian Journal of Urology


title: Automatic Textual Evidence Mining in COVID-19 Literature

text: We created this EVIDENCEMINER system for automatic textual evidence mining in COVID-19 literature. EVIDENCEMINER is a web-based system that lets users query a natural language statement and automatically retrieves textual evidence from a background corpora for life sciences. It is constructed in a completely automated way without any human effort for training data annotation. EVIDENCEMINER is supported by novel data-driven methods for distantly supervised named entity recognition and open information extraction. The named entities and meta-patterns are pre-computed and indexed offline to support fast online evidence retrieval. The annotation results are also highlighted in the original document for better visualization. EVIDENCEMINER also includes analytic functionalities such as the most frequent entity and relation summarization.


title: [Recommendations for respiratory rehabilitation of coronavirus disease 2019 in adult]

text: COVID-19 is a highly infectious respiratory infection disease, which leads to dysfunction of respiratory, physical, and psychological of the patients. pulmonary rehabilitation is an important intervention for clinical patients as well as cure patients. With the deeper cognition of COVID-19 and accumulation of clinical experience, we proposed the recommendations for pulmonary rehabilitation of COVID-19 in adults based on the opinions of front-line clinical experts involved in the management of this epidemic and a review of the relevant literature and evidences: (1)for the inpatients with COVID-19, pulmonary rehabilitation would relieve the symptoms of dyspnea, anxiety, and depression; eventually improve physical function and the quality of life; (2)For severe/critical inpatients, the early performance of pulmonary rehabilitation is not suggested. (3)For isolating patients, the pulmonary rehabilitation guidence should be conducted through education video, instruction manual or remote consultation. (4)Assessment and monitor should be performed throughout the entire pulmonary rehabilitation process.(5)Taking proper grading protection following the guideline. These recommendations can serve as a clinical practice guidence and basis for pulmonary rehabilitation of COVID-19.


title: The Effect of Social Distancing on the Reach of an Epidemic in Social Networks

text: How does social distancing affect the reach of an epidemic in social networks? We present Monte Carlo simulation results of a Susceptible- Infected-Removed (SIR) model on a network, where individuals are limited in the number of other people they can interact with. While increased social distancing always reduces the spread of an infectious disease, the magnitude varies greatly depending on the topology of the social network. Our results also reveal the importance of coordination at the global level. In particular, the public health benefits from social distancing to a group (e.g., a country) may be completely undone if that group maintains connections with outside groups that are not social distancing.


No Need of Transforming Gastroenterology Units to COVID Units at the Time of SARS-COV2 Infection - A Single-Center Analysis from Northern Italy


Azithromycin for COVID-19: More Than Just an Antimicrobial?


The globe on the spotlight: Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)


Societal pandemic burnout: A COVID legacy


title: Disappearance of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Infants Born to Women with COVID-19, Wuhan, China

text: We report the detection and decline over time of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 antibodies in infants born to women with coronavirus disease. Among 11 infants tested at birth, all had detectable IgG and 5 had detectable IgM. IgG titers with positive IgM declined more slowly than those without.


Appearance of skin rash in pediatric patients with COVID-19: Three case presentations


title: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): An updated review based on current knowledge and existing literature for dermatologists

text: The world entered the year 2020 with reports of the emergence of a new viral illness in Wuhan city, Hubei province, China. In January 2020, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified to be the causative novel coronavirus for the cluster of patients suffering from pneumonia in China. The disease was later named as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. Several studies, since then, have tried to study and explain the origin of SARS-CoV-2, its structure and pathogenicity, epidemiology, modes of transmission, spectrum of illness and causes of mortality and morbidity. The current management strategies focus on supportive care and prevention of complications. With no definite treatment, as of now, encouraging reports of some anti-viral and anti-malarial drugs in the management of COVID-19 generate some hope. This review intends to cover the current known aspects of COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-19, based on the available literature.


Intensive care during the coronavirus epidemic


COVID-19: Facemask use prevalence in international airports in Asia, Europe and the Americas, March 2020


title: Clinical Course and Outcomes of Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection: a Preliminary Report of the First 28 Patients from the Korean Cohort Study on COVID-19

text: BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected pneumonia emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019. In this retrospective multicenter study, we investigated the clinical course and outcomes of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from early cases in Republic of Korea. METHODS: All of the cases confirmed by real time polymerase chain reaction were enrolled from the 1st to the 28th patient nationwide. Clinical data were collected and analyzed for changes in clinical severity including laboratory, radiological, and virologic dynamics during the progression of illness. RESULTS: The median age was 40 years (range, 20-73 years) and 15 (53.6%) patients were male. The most common symptoms were cough (28.6%) and sore throat (28.6%), followed by fever (25.0%). Diarrhea was not common (10.7%). Two patients had no symptoms. Initial chest X-ray (CXR) showed infiltration in 46.4% of the patients, but computed tomography scan confirmed pneumonia in 88.9% (16/18) of the patients. Six patients (21.4%) required supplemental oxygen therapy, but no one needed mechanical ventilation. Lymphopenia was more common in severe cases. Higher level of C-reactive protein and worsening of chest radiographic score was observed during the 5-7 day period after symptom onset. Viral shedding was high from day 1 of illness, especially from the upper respiratory tract (URT). CONCLUSION: The prodromal symptoms of COVID-19 were mild and most patients did not have limitations of daily activity. Viral shedding from URT was high from the prodromal phase. Radiological pneumonia was common from the early days of illness, but it was frequently not evident in simple CXR. These findings could be plausible explanations for the easy and rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the community.


title: The Demographics and Economics of Direct Care Staff Highlight Their Vulnerabilities Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

text: An estimated 3.5 million direct care staff working in facilities and people's homes play a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic. They allow vulnerable care recipients to stay at home and they provide necessary help in facilities. Direct care staff, on average, have decades of experience, often have certifications and licenses, and many have at least some college education to help them perform the myriad of responsibilities to properly care for care recipients. Yet, they are at heightened health and financial risks. They often receive low wages, limited benefits, and have few financial resources to fall back on when they get sick themselves and can no longer work. Furthermore, most direct care staff are parents with children in the house and almost one-fourth are single parents. If they fall ill, both they and their families are put into physical and financial risk.


title: COVID-19 Emergency Reforms in Massachusetts to Support Behavioral Health Care and Reduce Mortality of People With Serious Mental Illness

text: People with serious mental illness are at disproportionate risk of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality because of high rates of risk factors that directly parallel those related to poor coronavirus outcomes, including smoking, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, along with housing instability, homelessness, food insecurity, and poverty. Community-based behavioral health organizations are also at risk of adverse outcomes because of dramatic declines in revenues and a diminished workforce. The State of Massachusetts has responded to this crisis by rapidly implementing a variety of policy, regulatory, and payment reforms. This column describes some of these reforms, which are designed to enhance remote telehealth delivery of care, ensure access to needed medications and residential care staff, and support the financial livelihood of community-based behavioral health services.


Incoming International Medical Graduates and the COVID-19 Pandemic: More Than Meets the Eye


Covid-19 mortality in Italian doctors


title: Fatal Invasive Aspergillosis and Coronavirus Disease in an Immunocompetent Patient

text: Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is a complication in critically ill patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, especially those with severe influenza pneumonia. We report a fatal case of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in an immunocompetent patient in France who had severe coronavirus disease-associated pneumonia.


title: What about COVID-19 and arachidonic acid pathway?

text: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 is a highly contagious viral disease. In this study, we tried to define and discuss all the findings on the potential association between arachidonic acid (AA) pathway and COVID-19 pathophysiology. METHODS: A literature search across PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane database was conducted. A total of 25 studies were identified. RESULTS: The data elucidated that COX-2 and prostaglandins (PGs), particularly PGE2, have pro-inflammatory action in COVID-19 pathophysiology. Arachidonic acid can act as endogenous antiviral compound. A deficiency in AA can make humans more susceptible to COVID-19. Targeting these pro-inflammatory mediators may help in decreasing the mortality and morbidity rate in COVID-19 patients. CONCLUSIONS: PGE2 levels and other PGs levels should be measured in patients with COVID-19. Lowering the PGE2 levels through inhibition of human microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1) can enhance the host immune response against COVID-19. In addition, the hybrid compounds, such as COX-2 inhibitors/TP antagonists, can be an innovative treatment to control the overall balance between AA mediators in patients with COVID-19.


Covid-19 pandemic experience: can it serve as a clarion call to establish or revamp a specialty known as 'Infectious Diseases Physiotherapy'?


title: The Anticoagulant Nafamostat Potently Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 S Protein-Mediated Fusion in a Cell Fusion Assay System and Viral Infection In Vitro in a Cell-Type-Dependent Manner

text: Although infection by SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of coronavirus pneumonia disease (COVID-19), is spreading rapidly worldwide, no drug has been shown to be sufficiently effective for treating COVID-19. We previously found that nafamostat mesylate, an existing drug used for disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), effectively blocked Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) S protein-mediated cell fusion by targeting transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2), and inhibited MERS-CoV infection of human lung epithelium-derived Calu-3 cells. Here we established a quantitative fusion assay dependent on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) S protein, angiotensin I converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and TMPRSS2, and found that nafamostat mesylate potently inhibited the fusion while camostat mesylate was about 10-fold less active. Furthermore, nafamostat mesylate blocked SARS-CoV-2 infection of Calu-3 cells with an effective concentration (EC)50 around 10 nM, which is below its average blood concentration after intravenous administration through continuous infusion. On the other hand, a significantly higher dose (EC50 around 30 mM) was required for VeroE6/TMPRSS2 cells, where the TMPRSS2-independent but cathepsin-dependent endosomal infection pathway likely predominates. Together, our study shows that nafamostat mesylate potently inhibits SARS-CoV-2 S protein-mediated fusion in a cell fusion assay system and also inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro in a cell-type-dependent manner. These findings, together with accumulated clinical data regarding nafamostat's safety, make it a likely candidate drug to treat COVID-19.


A Case of HIV and SARS-CoV-2 Co-infection in Singapore


title: Well-aerated Lung on Admitting Chest CT to Predict Adverse Outcome in COVID-19 Pneumonia

text: Background Computed tomography (CT) of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease depicts the extent of lung involvement in COVID-19 pneumonia. Purpose The aim of the study was to determine the value of quantification of the well-aerated lung obtained at baseline chest CT for determining prognosis in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Materials and Methods Patients who underwent chest CT suspected for COVID-19 pneumonia at the emergency department admission between February 17 to March 10, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with negative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2 in nasal-pharyngeal swabs, negative chest CT, and incomplete clinical data were excluded. CT was analyzed for quantification of well aerated lung visually (%V-WAL) and by open-source software (%S-WAL and absolute volume, VOL-WAL). Clinical parameters included demographics, comorbidities, symptoms and symptom duration, oxygen saturation and laboratory values. Logistic regression was used to evaluate relationship between clinical parameters and CT metrics versus patient outcome (ICU admission/death vs. no ICU admission/ death). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated to determine model performance. Results The study included 236 patients (females 59/123, 25%; median age, 68 years). A %V-WAL<73% (OR, 5.4; 95% CI, 2.7-10.8; P<0.001), %S-WAL<71% (OR, 3.8; 95% CI, 1.9-7.5; P<0.001), and VOL-WAL<2.9 L (OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.2-5.8; P<0.01) were predictors of ICU admission/death. In comparison with clinical model containing only clinical parameters (AUC, 0.83), all three quantitative models showed higher diagnostic performance (AUC 0.86 for all models). The models containing %V-WAL<73% and VOL-WAL<2.9L were superior in terms of performance as compared to the models containing only clinical parameters (P=0.04 for both models). Conclusion In patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia, visual or software quantification the extent of CT lung abnormality were predictors of ICU admission or death.


Online Neuroanatomy Education and Its Role During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Lockdown


Placental abruption in a twin pregnancy at 32 weeks' gestation complicated by COVID-19, without vertical transmission to the babies


Coronavirus breakthrough: dexamethasone is first drug shown to save lives


title: Androgen-deprivation therapies for prostate cancer and risk of infection by SARS-CoV-2: a population-based study (N = 4532)

text: BACKGROUND: Cell entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) depends on binding of the viral spike (S) proteins to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and on S protein priming by TMPRSS2. Inhibition of TMPRSS2 may work to block or decrease the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Intriguingly, TMPRSS2 is an androgen-regulated gene that is up-regulated in prostate cancer where it supports tumor progression and is involved in a frequent genetic translocation with the ERG gene. First- or second-generation androgen-deprivation therapies (ADTs) decrease the levels of TMPRSS2. Here we put forward the hypothesis that ADTs may protect patients affected by prostate cancer from SARS-CoV-2 infections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We extracted data regarding 9280 patients (4532 males) with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection from 68 hospitals in Veneto, one of the Italian regions that was most affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The parameters used for each COVID-19-positive patient were sex, hospitalization, admission to intensive care unit, death, tumor diagnosis, prostate cancer diagnosis, and ADT. RESULTS: There were evaluable 9280 SARS-CoV-2-positive patients in Veneto on 1 April 2020. Overall, males developed more severe complications, were more frequently hospitalized, and had a worse clinical outcome than females. Considering only the Veneto male population (2.4 million men), 0.2% and 0.3% of non-cancer and cancer patients, respectively, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Comparing the total number of SARS-CoV-2-positive cases, prostate cancer patients receiving ADT had a significantly lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with patients who did not receive ADT (OR 4.05; 95% CI 1.55-10.59). A greater difference was found comparing prostate cancer patients receiving ADT with patients with any other type of cancer (OR 4.86; 95% CI 1.88-12.56). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that cancer patients have an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infections compared with non-cancer patients. However, prostate cancer patients receiving ADT appear to be partially protected from SARS-CoV-2 infections.


A propos de chirurgie et Covid-19: quelques précautions complémentaires./ [Surgery and the Covid-19 epidemic: some additional precautions]


Association between low vitamin D and COVID-19: don't forget the vitamin D binding protein


Choices for the "New Normal"


title: Need for Caution in the Diagnosis of Radiation Pneumonitis in the COVID-19 Pandemic

text: Introduction: Patients with cancer are at high-risk for mortality from coronavirus-disease 2019 (COVID-19). Radiation pneumonitis (RP) is a common toxicity of thoracic radiotherapy with overlapping clinical and imaging features with COVID-19, however, RP is treated with high-dose corticosteroids, which may exacerbate COVID-19-associated lung injury. We reviewed patients who presented with symptoms of RP during the intensification of a regional COVID-19 epidemic to report on their clinical course and COVID-19 testing results. Methods: The clinical course and chest computed tomography (CT) imaging findings of consecutive patients who presented with symptoms of RP in March 2020 were reviewed. The first regional COVID-19 case was diagnosed on 3/1/2020. All patients underwent COVID-19 qualitative RNA testing. Results: Four patients with clinical suspicion for RP were assessed. Three out of four patients tested positive for COVID-19. All patients presented with symptoms of cough and dyspnea. Two patients had a fever, of whom only one tested positive for COVID-19. Two patients started on an empiric high-dose corticosteroid taper for presumed RP, but both had clinical deterioration, and ultimately tested positive for COVID-19 and required hospitalization. Chest CT findings in patients suspected of RP, but ultimately diagnosed with COVID-19 showed ground-glass opacities mostly pronounced outside the radiation field. Conclusions: As this pandemic continues, patients with symptoms of RP require diagnostic attention. We recommend that patients suspected of RP be tested for COVID-19 before starting empiric corticosteroids and for careful attention be paid to chest CT imaging in order to prevent potential exacerbation of COVID-19 in these high-risk patients.


title: Prediction of the rehabilitation duration and risk management for mild-moderate COVID-19

text: BACKGROUND: More than 80% COVID-19 cases are mild or moderate. In this study, a risk model was developed for predicting rehabilitation duration of the mild-moderate COVID-19 cases, thereby conducting refined risk management for different risk population. METHODS: 90 consecutive mild-moderate COVID-19 cases were enrolled. Large-scale datasets were extracted from clinical practices. Through the multivariable linear regression analysis, the model was based on significant risk factors and was developed for predicting the rehabilitation duration of mild-moderate COVID-19. According to the local epidemic situation, risk management was conducted by weighing the risk assessment for different risk populations. RESULTS: Ten risk factors from 44 high-dimensional clinical datasets were significantly correlated to rehabilitation duration (P < 0.05). Among these, five risk predictors were incorporated into a risk model. Individual rehabilitation durations were effectively calculated. Weighing the local epidemic situation, threshold probability was classified for low risk, intermediate risk, and high risk. According to this classification, risk management was based on a treatment flowchart for tailored clinical decisions-making. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed model is a useful tool for the individualized risk management of mild-moderate COVID-19 cases for the first time, and it may readily facilitate dynamic clinical decision-making for different risk populations.


Prevalence, risk factors and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with a history of pancreatitis in Northern California


Transplant programs during COVID-19: Unintended consequences for health inequality


Pandemic Palliative Care Consultations Spanning State and Institutional Borders


Novel Approach to Reduce Transmission of COVID-19 During Tracheostomy


title: COVID-19 Pandemic: A Big Challenge in Iran and the World

text: No abstract!


title: COVID-19, SARS and MERS: A neurological perspective

text: Central to COVID-19 pathophysiology is an acute respiratory infection primarily manifesting as pneumonia. Two months into the COVID-19 outbreak, however, a retrospective study in China involving more than 200 participants revealed a neurological component to COVID-19 in a subset of patients. The observed symptoms, the cause of which remains unclear, included impaired consciousness, skeletal muscle injury and acute cerebrovascular disease, and appeared more frequently in severe disease. Since then, findings from several studies have hinted at various possible neurological outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Here, we review the historical association between neurological complications and highly pathological coronaviruses including SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. We draw from evidence derived from past coronavirus outbreaks, noting the similarities and differences between SARS and MERS, and the current COVID-19 pandemic. We end by briefly discussing possible mechanisms by which the coronavirus impacts on the human nervous system, as well as neurology-specific considerations that arise from the repercussions of COVID-19.


title: [Correlation between clinical classification of COVID-19 and imaging characteristics of MSCT volume scanning of the lungs]

text: OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between the clinical classification of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the imaging characteristics of multislice spiral computed tomography (MSCT) volume scanning of the lungs. METHODS: The clinical data and thoracic MSCT volume scanning data were analyzed retrospectively for 102 patients with COVID-19 diagnosed and hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College between January 18 and February 26, 2020. According to the Fifth Edition of the Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines by the National Health Commission, the patients were divided into common type, severe type and critical type. The imaging characteristics including the lung sides of the lesions, lung segment involved, lesion distribution, and lesion number and density were compared among the patients with different clinical types of COVID-19. RESULTS: Seventy-seven of the patients had common type, 18 had severe type and 7 had critical type of COVID-19. The main clinical manifestations included fever, cough and fatigue. Severe and critical types were more frequently seen in elderly patients, who were more prone to show such symptoms as asthenia, breathing difficulty and dyspnea. Two patients presented with no obvious abnormality in the first CT examinations; in the remaining 100 patients, 89.0% had bilateral lung lesions, 16.0% had diffuse lesions, involving a mean of 6.56±4.22 lung segments. Compared with the patients with the common type, the severe and critical patients had a significantly greater number of lung segments involved (P < 0.05), and were also more likely to show diffuse lesions (P < 0.05). The lesion side, lesion number or lesion density did not differ significantly among the patients with different clinical types of COVID-19 (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: MSCT volume scanning not only allows early diagnosis of COVID-19 but also provides evidence for evaluating the severity of COVID-19 to assist in the clinical treatment of the patients.


Pandemic Surge Models in the Time of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2: Wrong or Useful?


Anti-protease Treatments Targeting Plasmin(ogen) and Neutrophil Elastase May Be Beneficial in Fighting COVID-19


title: Deposition distribution of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in the human airways upon exposure to cough-generated aerosol

text: The new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been emerged as a rapidly spreading pandemic. The disease is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. The pathogen of COVID-19 is the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It infects the cells binding to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor (ACE2) which is expressed by cells throughout the airways as targets for cellular entry. Although the majority of persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 experience symptoms of mild upper respiratory tract infection, in some people infections of the peripheral airways result in severe, potentially fatal pneumonia. However, the induction of COVID-19 pneumonia requires that SARS-CoV-2 reaches the peripheral airways. While huge efforts have been made to understand the spread of the disease as well as the pathogenesis following cellular entry, much less attention is paid how SARS-CoV-2 from the environment reach the receptors of the target cells. The aim of the present study is to characterize the deposition distribution of SARS-CoV-2 in the airways upon exposure to cough-generated aerosol. For this purpose, the Stochastic Lung Deposition Model has been applied. Aerosol size distribution and breathing parameters were taken from the literature supposing normal breathing through the nose. We found that the probability of direct infection of the peripheral airways due to inhalation of aerosol generated by a bystander cough is very low. As the number of pathogens deposited in the extrathoracic airways is ~10 times higher than in the peripheral airways, we concluded that in most cases COVID-19 pneumonia must be preceded by SARS-CoV-2 infection of the upper airways. Our results suggest that without the enhancement of viral load in the upper airways, COVID-19 would be much less dangerous...


Emergence of a novel human coronavirus threatening human health


title: The SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic and challenges in stroke care in India

text: Stroke care in India has evolved rapidly in the last decade with a focus on stroke awareness, prevention, rapid triage, treatment, and rehabilitation. But acute stroke care and poststroke rehabilitation in the country have limitations owing to the economic constraints and poor access to health care. The SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic has made stroke care even more challenging. We outline the unfavorable circumstances in stroke care induced by the pandemic; propose mitigating measures; crisis management; and provide a comparative evaluation of stroke care between India and the United States during the pandemic. There is a need for public health systems in both developed and developing countries to improve awareness, implement proper strategies of triage, acute treatment, well-defined rehabilitation plans, telemedicine services, and virtual check-ins.


title: Israel Ad Hoc COVID-19 Committee: Guidelines for Care of Older Persons During a Pandemic

text: Early on, geriatricians in Israel viewed with increasing alarm the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It was clear that this viral disease exhibited a clear predilection for and danger to older persons. Informal contacts began with senior officials from the country's Ministry of Health, the Israel Medical Association, and the country's largest health fund; this was done to plan an approach to the possible coming storm. A group was formed, comprising three senior geriatricians, a former dean, a palliative care specialist, and a lawyer/ethicist. The members made every effort to ensure that their recommendations would be practical while at the same time taking into account the tenets of medical ethics. The committee's main task was to think through a workable approach because intensive care unit/ventilator resources may be far outstripped by those requiring such care. Recommendations included the approach to older persons both in the community and in long-term care institutions, a triage instrument, and palliative care. Patient autonomy was emphasized, with a strong recommendation for people of all ages to update their advance directives or, if they did not have any, to quickly draw them up. Considering the value of distributive justice, with respect to triage, a "soft utilitarian" approach was advocated with the main criteria being function and comorbidity. Although chronological age was rejected as a sole criterion, in the case of an overwhelming crisis, "biological age" would enter into the triage considerations, but only in the case of distinguishing between people with equal non-age-related deficits. The guideline emphasized that no matter what, in the spirit of beneficence, anyone who fell ill must receive active palliative care throughout the course of a COVD-19 infection but especially at the end of life. Furthermore, in the spirit of nonmaleficence, the frail, very old, and severely demented would be actively protected from dying on ventilation. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1370-1375, 2020.


title: Anchoring BODIPY photosensitizers enable pan-microbial photoinactivation

text: Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) is an effective strategy to inactivate pathogenic and resistant microbes. However, pan-microbial photoinactivation has hardly achieved. In this manuscript, we built anti-microbial PSs based on 2,6-diiodo-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl BODIPY (2I-BDP) using anchoring strategy through modifications on boron atom with bis-cationic moieties. With appropriate bis-cationic anchoring, we could achieve effective PACT for pan-microbial photoinactivation via straight forward modifications. Our studies suggested that integration of an efficient photosensitizer, good amphiphilicity, as well as tight interaction with microbial membrane could be essential for effective PACT.


title: Rapid response to COVID-19: health informatics support for outbreak management in an academic health system

text: OBJECTIVE: To describe the implementation of technological support important for optimizing clinical management of the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our health system has confirmed prior and current cases of COVID-19. An Incident Command Center was established early in the crisis and helped identify electronic health record (EHR)-based tools to support clinical care. RESULTS: We outline the design and implementation of EHR-based rapid screening processes, laboratory testing, clinical decision support, reporting tools, and patient-facing technology related to COVID-19. DISCUSSION: The EHR is a useful tool to enable rapid deployment of standardized processes. UC San Diego Health built multiple COVID-19-specific tools to support outbreak management, including scripted triaging, electronic check-in, standard ordering and documentation, secure messaging, real-time data analytics, and telemedicine capabilities. Challenges included the need to frequently adjust build to meet rapidly evolving requirements, communication, and adoption, and to coordinate the needs of multiple stakeholders while maintaining high-quality, prepandemic medical care. CONCLUSION: The EHR is an essential tool in supporting the clinical needs of a health system managing the COVID-19 pandemic.


COVID-19: maintaining essential rehabilitation services across the care continuum


COVID-19 targets the right lung


Revisiting the 1957 and 1968 influenza pandemics


Antibody profiles in mild and severe cases of COVID-19


T cell renaissance in COVID-19


Response to: Broadbent 2020, Better the drug you know: Commentary on "Daughton 2020, Natural experiment concept to accelerate the re-purposing of existing therapeutics for Covid-19"


title: Management of neurourological patients during the COVID-19 pandemic./ Manejo del paciente neurourologico durante la pandemia COVID-19

text: OBJECTIVES: To report the recommendations of an expert panel to reorganize Neurourology units and to prioritize examinations and both conservative and surgical treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic MATERIALS AND METHODS: Non-systematic review of the literature and national experts' opinion summarizing the recommendations in the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of neurourological patients during the COVID-19 pandemic A modified nominal group technique was used due to extraordinary meeting and mobility restrictions during COVID-19 pandemic RESULTS: Neurourological patients have special physiological and pathological characteristics that make them more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection For prioritization purposes, they encompass in Functional Urology patients and their management is considered non-urgentor delayable with no specific deadline of recovery from normality However, it is important to identify individual situations jeopardising the upper urinary tract, urinary retention or predisposing to urinary infections/sepsis A classification is provided prioritizing conservative/outpatient management and the surgical treatment of the events occurring in neurourological patients during the COVID-19 pandemic CONCLUSIONS: In neurourological patients we can find exceptional clinical situations in which a delayed treatment could develop irreversible changes in the upper urinary tract, advocating a more urgent treatment inspecific scenarios OBJETIVOS: Exponer las recomendaciones de un comite de expertos para la reorganizacion de las unidades de neurourologia y la priorizacion de estudios y tratamientos durante la pandemia COVID-19 MATERIAL Y METODOS: Revision no sistematica de la literatura cientifica y opinion de expertos nacionalespara resumir las recomendaciones en el diagnostico, tratamiento y seguimiento de los pacientes neurourologicos durante la pandemia COVID-19 Se utiliza una tecnica de grupo nominal modificada debido a las restricciones extraordinarias de reunion y movilidad durante la pandemia COVID-19 RESULTADOS: Los pacientes neurourologicos poseen caracteristicas fisiopatologicas especiales que les hace mas vulnerables frente a la infeccion por SARS-CoV-2 Han sido englobados en general en el grupo de la Urologia Funcional, relegando su manejo al de las situaciones no urgentes y demorables sin plazo concreto de recuperacion de la normalidad Sin embargo, es importante identificar situaciones especificas en las que exista compromiso funcional del aparato urinario superior, retencion urinaria, o desarrollo de infecciones/sepsis urinaria Se realiza una clasificacion segun el nivel de prioridad tanto del manejo ambulatorio y conservador como del tratamiento quirurgico de eventos relacionados con pacientes neurourologicos durante la pandemia COVID-19 CONCLUSIONES: En los pacientes neurourologicos encontramos situaciones clinicas excepcionales en las que un retraso de su tratamiento puede conllevar alteraciones irreversibles en el tracto urinario superior, dada su condicion de vejiga de riesgo funcional, por lo que debe individualizarse un manejo mas precoz en ciertos escenarios


title: [Management of neurourological patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.]

text: OBJECTIVES: To report the recommendations of an expert panel to reorganize Neurourology units and to prioritize examinations and both conservative and surgical treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic MATERIALS AND METHODS: Non-systematic review of the literature and national experts' opinion summarizing the recommendations in the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of neurourological patients during the COVID-19 pandemic A modified nominal group technique was used due to extraordinary meeting and mobility restrictions during COVID-19 pandemic RESULTS: Neurourological patients have special physiological and pathological characteristics that make them more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection For prioritization purposes, they encompass in Functional Urology patients and their management is considered non-urgentor delayable with no specific deadline of recovery from normality However, it is important to identify individual situations jeopardising the upper urinary tract, urinary retention or predisposing to urinary infections/sepsis A classification is provided prioritizing conservative/outpatient management and the surgical treatment of the events occurring in neurourological patients during the COVID-19 pandemic CONCLUSIONS: In neurourological patients we can find exceptional clinical situations in which a delayed treatment could develop irreversible changes in the upper urinary tract, advocating a more urgent treatment inspecific scenarios


title: COVID-19 and diabetes mellitus: implications for prognosis and clinical management

text: INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus that emerged from Wuhan, China in December 2019, and within 3 months became a global pandemic. AREAS COVERED: PubMed search of published data on COVID-19, respiratory infections, and diabetes mellitus (DM). DM associates with impairments of both cellular and humoral immunity. Early emergent global data reveal that severity of clinical outcome from COVID-19 infection (including hospitalization and admission to Intensive Care Unit [ICU]), associate with co-morbidities, prominently DM. The key principles of management of COVID-19 in patients with DM include ongoing focused outpatient management (remotely where necessary) and maintenance of good glycemic control. EXPERT OPINION: We will remember the dawn of the third decade of the twenty-first century as a time when the world changed, the true scale and impact of which is hard for us to imagine. Like a phoenix from the ashes though, COVID-19 provides us with a great learning opportunity to renew insights into ourselves as individuals, our clinical teams, and the optimized provision of care for our patients. COVID-19 has re-shaped and re-focused our collective societal values, with a sea-changed shift from materialistic to human-centric, from self-centredness to altruism, ultimately for the betterment of patient care and the whole of society.


Atividade Física e Redução do Comportamento Sedentário durante a Pandemia do Coronavírus./ Atividade Física e Redução do Comportamento Sedentário durante a Pandemia do Coronavírus./ Physical Activity And Reducing Sedentary Behavior During The Coronavirus Pandemic


title: Anomalous $Wtb$ couplings from $B$-physics

text: We revisit constraints on anomalous $Wtb$ couplings from $B$-physics experiments, performing a correlated analysis allowing all anomalous couplings to differ simultaneously from their Standard-Model (SM) values. The $B$-physics observables allow one to probe the three linear combinations out of the four anomalous couplings, which parameterize the $Wtb$ vertex under the assumption that the SM symmetries remain the symmetries of the effective theory. We take into account constraints coming from the inclusive $B\to X_s\gamma$, $B\to X_s \mu^+ \mu^-$ decays, the $\bar B^{0}-B^0$ oscillations, the leptonic $B\to \mu^+\mu^-$ decays, and the exclusive $B\to K^*\mu^+\mu^-$ decays at low $q^2$. We find that the SM values belong to the 95% CL allowed region obtained this way; however, the SM values are not the most probable values given by the fit. We also report that the distributions of the anomalous couplings obtained within our 3D scenario differ noticeably from the 1D scenario, when only one of the couplings is allowed to deviate from its SM value.


Lung Herniation Mimicking COVID-19


title: Service-learning in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: Emerging lessons from the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Botswana

text: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted many lives worldwide. Training programmes in academic institutions have also been affected by the pandemic. Teaching and learning family medicine and public health medicine in the COVID-19 era require adjustments to training activities. At the University of Botswana, the pandemic presented an opportunity to steer training programmes in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Medicine more towards service-learning. The department collaborated with the Ministry of Health and Wellness as well as the District Health Management teams in the national response to the pandemic as essential service providers. The increased demands for service provision were balanced with educational opportunities for trainees during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Including structured ongoing reflections for trainees involved in the COVID-19 response helps to connect service and the academic curriculum.


title: Increases in Health-Related Workplace Absenteeism Among Workers in Essential Critical Infrastructure Occupations During the COVID-19 Pandemic - United States, March-April 2020

text: During a pandemic, syndromic methods for monitoring illness outside of health care settings, such as tracking absenteeism trends in schools and workplaces, can be useful adjuncts to conventional disease reporting (1,2). Each month, CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) monitors the prevalence of health-related workplace absenteeism among currently employed full-time workers in the United States, overall and by demographic and occupational subgroups, using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS).* This report describes trends in absenteeism during October 2019-April 2020, including March and April 2020, the period of rapidly accelerating transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Overall, the prevalence of health-related workplace absenteeism in March and April 2020 were similar to their 5-year baselines. However, compared with occupation-specific baselines, absenteeism among workers in several occupational groups that define or contain essential critical infrastructure workforce categories was significantly higher than expected in April. Significant increases in absenteeism were observed in personal care and service§ (includes child care workers and personal care aides); healthcare support¶; and production** (includes meat, poultry, and fish processing workers). Although health-related workplace absenteeism remained relatively unchanged or decreased in other groups, the increase in absenteeism among workers in occupational groups less able to avoid exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (3) highlights the potential impact of COVID-19 on the essential critical infrastructure workforce because of the risks and concerns of occupational transmission of SARS-CoV-2. More widespread and complete collection of occupational data in COVID-19 surveillance is required to fully understand workers' occupational risks and inform intervention strategies. Employers should follow available recommendations to protect workers' health.


Feasibility of Therapeutic Effects of the Cholinergic Anti-Inflammatory Pathway on COVID-19 Symptoms


title: Ruxolitinib for tocilizumab-refractory severe COVID-19 infection

text: Whilst the majority of patients with COVID-19 infection have mild self-limiting symptoms, for some the SARS-CoV2 virus can trigger a severe hyperinflammatory syndrome which is life threatening. Anti-IL6 therapy has shown promise in restraining the hyperinflammatory syndrome and while IL-6 is a pleiotropic mediatory of the inflammatory response, redundancy within inflammatory pathways means that the use of such targeted monoclonal therapy may have too restricted a repertoire in some patients. We present the case of a 53-year-old haematopoetic stem cell transplant recipient who developed a severe COVID-19 that was refractory to anti-IL6 therapy, but responded to Jak-Stat inhibition with ruxolitinib, demonstrating its safety and efficacy in this setting.


Die Auswirkung der COVID-19-Pandemie auf Operationen bei malignen Erkrankungen./ [The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgery for malignant diseases]


Materials Science in the time of Coronavirus


title: Buying Time: Using OMM to Potentially Reduce the Demand for Mechanical Ventilation in Patients With COVID-19

text: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) pandemic is causing an increased need for mechanical ventilation for a significant percentage of people who present to the hospital for treatment. This increase in demand could surpass the supply of ventilators and lead to an increase in mortality due to a lack of ventilator vacancies. There is significant evidence that osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) can alleviate pulmonary symptoms and aid in quicker recoveries from various respiratory ailments. OMM has the potential to play a significant role in helping reduce a patient's need for mechanical ventilation by delaying the onset of acute respiratory distress syndrome stemming from SARS-Cov2 infections.


Medical education in the COVID-19 era: Impact on anesthesiology trainees


title: COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation strategies: implications for maternal and child health and nutrition

text: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to ravage health and economic metrics globally, including progress in maternal and child nutrition. Although there has been focus on rising rates of childhood wasting in the short term, maternal and child undernutrition rates are also likely to increase as a consequence of COVID-19 and its impacts on poverty, coverage of essential interventions, and access to appropriate nutritious foods. Key sectors at particular risk of collapse or reduced efficiency in the wake of COVID-19 include food systems, incomes, and social protection, health care services for women and children, and services and access to clean water and sanitation. This review highlights key areas of concern for maternal and child nutrition during and in the aftermath of COVID-19 while providing strategic guidance for countries in their efforts to reduce maternal and child undernutrition. Rooted in learnings from the exemplars in Global Health's Stunting Reduction Exemplars project, we provide a set of recommendations that span investments in sectors that have sustained direct and indirect impact on nutrition. These include interventions to strengthen the food-supply chain and reducing food insecurity to assist those at immediate risk of food shortages. Other strategies could include targeted social safety net programs, payment deferrals, or tax breaks as well as suitable cash-support programs for the most vulnerable. Targeting the most marginalized households in rural populations and urban slums could be achieved through deploying community health workers and supporting women and community members. Community-led sanitation programs could be key to ensuring healthy household environments and reducing undernutrition. Additionally, several COVID-19 response measures such as contact tracing and self-isolation could also be exploited for nutrition protection. Global health and improvements in undernutrition will require governments, donors, and development partners to restrategize and reprioritize investments for the COVID-19 era, and will necessitate data-driven decision making, political will and commitment, and international unity.


title: Lung ultrasound monitoring in patients with COVID-19 on home isolation

text: Many patients with COVID-19, the clinical illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection, exhibit mild symptoms and do not require hospitalization. Instead, these patients are often referred for 14-days of home isolation as symptoms resolve. Lung ultrasound is well-established as an important means of evaluating lung pathology in patients in the emergency department and in intensive care units. Ultrasound is also being used to assess admitted patients with COVID-19. However, data on the progression of sonographic findings in patients with COVID-19 on home isolation is lacking. Here we present a case series of a group of physician patients with COVID-19 who monitored themselves daily while in home isolation using lung point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). Lung POCUS findings corresponded with symptom onset and resolution in all 3 patients with confirmed COVID-19 during the 14-day isolation period. Lung POCUS may offer a feasible means of monitoring patients with COVID-19 who are on home isolation. Further studies correlating sonographic findings to disease progression and prognosis will be valuable.


COVID-19 Pandemic: Saudi Arabia's Role at National and International Levels


The Parallel Pandemic: Medical Misinformation and COVID-19 : Primum non nocere


title: Management of the mother-infant dyad with suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in a highly epidemic context

text: In the context of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the hospital management of mother-infant pairs poses to obstetricians and neonatologists previously unmet challenges. In Lombardy, Northern Italy, 59 maternity wards networked to organise the medical assistance of mothers and neonates with suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Six "COVID-19 maternity centres" were identified, the architecture and activity of obstetric and neonatal wards of each centre was reorganised, and common assistance protocols for the management of suspected and proven cases were formulated. Here, we present the key features of this reorganization effort, and our current management of the mother-infant dyad before and after birth, including our approach to rooming-in practice, breastfeeding and neonatal follow-up, based on the currently available scientific evidence. Considered the rapid diffusion of COVID-19 all over the world, we believe that preparedness is fundamental to assist mother-infant dyads, minimising the risk of propagation of the infection through maternity and neonatal wards.


title: Eco-epidemiological assessment of the COVID-19 epidemic in China, January-February 2020

text: Background: The outbreak of COVID-19 in China in early 2020 provides a rich data source for exploring the ecological determinants of this new infection, which may be of relevance as the pandemic develops.Objectives: Assessing the spread of the COVID-19 across China, in relation to associations between cases and ecological factors including population density, temperature, solar radiation and precipitation.Methods: Open-access COVID-19 case data include 18,069 geo-located cases in China during January and February 2020, which were mapped onto a 0.25° latitude/longitude grid together with population and weather data (temperature, solar radiation and precipitation). Of 15,539 grid cells, 559 (3.6%) contained at least one case, and these were used to construct a Poisson regression model of cell-weeks. Weather parameters were taken for the preceding week given the established 5-7 day incubation period for COVID-19. The dependent variable in the Poisson model was incident cases per cell-week and exposure was cell population, allowing for clustering of cells over weeks, to give incidence rate ratios.Results: The overall COVID-19 incidence rate in cells with confirmed cases was 0.12 per 1,000. There was a single confirmed case in 113/559 (20.2%) of cells, while two grid cells recorded over 1,000 confirmed cases. Weekly means of maximum daily temperature varied from -28.0°C to 30.1°C, minimum daily temperature from -42.4°C to 23.0°C, maximum solar radiation from 0.04 to 2.74 MJm-2 and total precipitation from 0 to 72.6 mm. Adjusted incidence rate ratios suggested brighter, warmer and drier conditions were associated with lower incidence.Conclusion: Though not demonstrating cause and effect, there were appreciable associations between weather and COVID-19 incidence during the epidemic in China. This does not mean the pandemic will go away with summer weather but demonstrates the importance of using weather conditions in understanding and forecasting the spread of COVID-19.


Mascarillas quirúrgicas a propósito del COVID-19: Algunos aspectos técnicos


COVID-19: the medium is the message


title: Practice and thinking of the informationized cabin hospitals during the novel coronavirus pneumonia period/ 中华医院管理杂志

text: Novel coronavirus pneumonia, which has emerged in Wuhan since the end of 2019, has posed a huge challenge for medical institutions in the city. Rapid completion of a number of cabin hospitals plays a vital role in preventing further spreading of the epidemic, by means of collecting and treating mild patients of the disease. This paper presents the key process of Tongji Hospital in its rapid informatization since it took over a cabin hospital. Based on the network architecture of the Tongji cloud platform, the shared service center is used to share data and integrate services between the cabin hospital and Tongji hospital. This practice can prevent cross-infection and improve service efficiency as well, hence offering a reference for future information infrastructure development of cabin hospitals.


title: Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Viral Hepatitis coinfection: Provide guidelines for integrated screening and treatment

text: The rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the virus, that causes Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) threatens global health. Emerging evidence and past experience from other coronaviruses suggests that people with underlying liver disease including viral hepatitis could be at risk of disease severity and mortality. However, with the present relatively low screening rates for the most prevalent viral hepatitis - Hepatitis B and C, many COVID-19 cases especially in low middle income countries are unlikely to be screened for viral hepatitis coinfection. Without active screening, little will be known about the clinical and epidemiological manifestations which could negatively impact public health efforts. In this commentary, we call for systematic and integrated screening of Hepatitis B and C for COVID-19 confirmed patients. We also call for guidelines for management and treatment as well as research to understand the epidemiology of coinfection This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


title: COVID-19 Impact on People with Diabetes in the South and Central America

text: AIMS: The present observational study aims to describe the political actions in place to fight COVID-19 in the South and Central America region (SACA) while protecting individuals with diabetes. METHODS: A survey with 12 questions was shared with all IDF-SACA member organizations, in 18 countries. A descriptive analysis was performed and a multivariate cluster analysis technique pam (partitioning around medoids) was applied. RESULTS: Two groups of countries were identified. The first group reported more difficulties (limitations in accessing basic or health needs) and fears (concerns regarding the impact of the pandemic), mostly countries with stricter measures to contain the spread of the virus, whereas most of the second group consisted of countries with less restrictive measures, and reported fewer difficulties. Only 37% responded that a policy was put into place to protect individuals with diabetes delivering their medicines and supplies at home (16%) or receiving at once medicine and supplies enough for 2-3 months (21%). All respondents reported as one of the main fears "be infected and do not receive adequate treatment" and/or "getting infected if going to the hospital or medical appointments". CONCLUSIONS: Most of the SACA countries lack timely implemented measures to protect individuals with diabetes, which may lead to present and future severe impact on the individuals, health system and economy.


title: Cerebellar degeneration in adult spinal muscular atrophy patients

text: BACKGROUND: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic motor neuron disease related to deletions in the SMN1 gene. There is mounting evidence that the disease is not restricted to motor neurons. In this neuroimaging study, we aimed to investigate the presence of in-vivo cerebellar damage in adult SMA patients not treated with disease-modifying treatment. METHODS: Twenty-five molecularly confirmed patients with SMA type III or IV and 25 healthy controls underwent MRI with cerebellar focused structural analysis by the CERES automated pipeline. Volumetry (total and gray matter-GM) as well as cortical thickness of the cerebellar lobules were compared in both groups. Full clinical and demographic data were then assessed for correlations with cerebellar imaging findings. RESULTS: Volumes of cerebellar lobules VIIIB (right), IX and X were significantly smaller in patients with SMA. Lobule IX also had GM atrophy in comparison to controls. We found no significant correlation between clinical findings and cerebellar damage. CONCLUSIONS: Neuroimaging detects cerebellar structural changes in adult SMA patients, suggesting that neurodegeneration is not confined to the lower motor neurons in the disease.


Acral findings during the COVID-19 outbreak: Chilblain-like lesions should be preferred to acro-ischemic lesions


title: Genomic Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Guangdong Province, China

text: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection and was first reported in central China in December 2019. Extensive molecular surveillance in Guangdong, China's most populous province, during early 2020 resulted in 1,388 reported RNA-positive cases from 1.6 million tests. In order to understand the molecular epidemiology and genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in China, we generated 53 genomes from infected individuals in Guangdong using a combination of metagenomic sequencing and tiling amplicon approaches. Combined epidemiological and phylogenetic analyses indicate multiple independent introductions to Guangdong, although phylogenetic clustering is uncertain because of low virus genetic variation early in the pandemic. Our results illustrate how the timing, size, and duration of putative local transmission chains were constrained by national travel restrictions and by the province's large-scale intensive surveillance and intervention measures. Despite these successes, COVID-19 surveillance in Guangdong is still required, because the number of cases imported from other countries has increased.


Shifting Sands - Molecular Coronavirus Testing During a Time of Inconsistent Resources


The impact of COVID-19 on Head and Neck surgery, education, and training


Clinical course, severity and mortality in a cohort of patients with COVID-19 with rheumatic diseases


title: An update on our response to Covid-19

text: BVA is working hard to keep the veterinary profession informed and supported during these challenging and unpredictable times.


An open-label cluster-randomized controlled trial of chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine or only supportive care in patients admitted with moderate to severe COVID-19 (ARCHAIC)-Protocol publication


COVID-19 may transmit through aerosol


title: Acute pulmonary embolism in COVID-19 related hypercoagulability

text: Since December 2019, a novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was confirmed as the etiologic agent of a worldwide outbreak of a pneumonia that can result in severe respiratory failure. This clinical entity seems to be associated with a marked hypercoagulable state that causes both arterial and venous thromboembolic complications. Therefore, an adequate anti-thrombotic prophylaxis is recommended in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Although rapidly worsening respiratory symptoms in a patient with SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infection may correlate with worsening pneumonia itself, it may also mask a pulmonary embolism. We report the case of a 50-year-old man affected by SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, who developed acute pulmonary embolism.


Reply to: Cigarette Smoking and COVID-19: A Complex Interaction


Social media for rapid knowledge dissemination: early experience from the COVID-19 pandemic


title: Epidemic parameters for COVID-19 in several regions of India

text: Bayesian analysis of publicly available time series of cases and fatalities in different geographical regions of India during April 2020 is reported. It is found that the initial apparent rapid growthin infections could be partly due to confounding factors such as initial rapid ramp-up of disease surveillance. A brief discussion is given of the fallacies which arise if this possibility is neglected. The growth after April 10 is consistent with a time independent but region dependent exponential. From this, R0 is extracted using both known cases and fatalities. The two estimates are seen to agree in many cases; for these CFR is reported. It is seen that CFR and R0 increase together. Some public health implications of this observation are discussed, including a target doubling interval if medical facilities are to remain adequate.


title: HLA predictions from the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples of five patients at the early stage of the Wuhan seafood market COVID-19 outbreak

text: We are in the midst of a global viral pandemic, one with no cure and a high mortality rate. The Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) gene complex plays a critical role in host immunity. We predicted HLA class I and II alleles from the transcriptome sequencing data prepared from the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples of five patients at the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak. We identified the HLA-I allele A*24:02 in four out of five patients, which is higher than the expected frequency (17.2%) in the South Han Chinese population. The difference is statistically significant with a p-value less than $10^{-4}$. Our analysis results may help provide future insights on disease susceptibility.


title: The Question of Whether to Remain on Therapy for Chronic Rheumatic Diseases in the Setting of the Covid-19 Pandemic

text: We appreciate our Italian colleagues' interest in our editorial denoting the rheumatologist's role in helping to diagnose and treat cytokine storm syndrome (CSS) in the setting of the Covid-19 panemic (1). It is encouraging that none of the 123 pediatric rheumatology patients (primarily juvenile idiopathic arthritis) on background biological disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (bDMARD) therapies in Milan, Italy surveyed over a 7-week period from February 25 through April 14, 2020 (during which time Covid-19 was hyper-endemic there) had either confirmed or suspected Covid-19 (2).


title: Persistent Viral Presence Determines the Clinical Course of the Disease in COVID-19

text: BACKGROUND: The clinical management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is dependent on understanding the underlying factors that contribute to the disease severity. In the absence of effective antiviral therapies, other host immunomodulatory therapies such as targeting inflammatory response are currently being used without clear evidence of their effectiveness. Because inflammation is an essential component of host antiviral mechanisms, therapies targeting inflammation may adversely affect viral clearance and disease outcome. OBJECTIVE: To understand whether the persistent presence of the virus is a key determinant in the disease severity during COVID-19 and to determine whether the viral reactivation in some patients is associated with infectious viral particles. METHODS: The data for patients were available including the onset of the disease, duration of viral persistence, measurements of inflammatory markers such as IL-6 and C-reactive protein, chest imaging, disease symptoms, and their durations among others. Follow-up tests were performed to determine whether the viral negative status persists after their recovery. RESULTS: Our data show that patients with persistent viral presence (>16 days) have more severe disease outcomes including extensive lung involvement and requirement of respiratory support. Two patients who died of COVID-19 were virus-positive at the time of their death. Four patients demonstrated virus-positive status on the follow-up tests, and these patient samples were sent to viral culture facility where virus culture could not be established. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that viral persistence is the key determining factor of the disease severity. Therapies that may impair the viral clearance may impair the host recovery from COVID-19.


title: Effect of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic on the U.S. Emergency Medical Services System: A Preliminary Report

text: BACKGROUND: Our objective was to quantify trends in emergency medical services (EMS) incidents as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the United States and to determine if there was an increase in EMS-attended deaths. METHODS: We conducted a 3-year comparative retrospective cohort analysis of data from the National EMS Information System. Data were included if care was provided between the 40th and 21st weeks of the next year and compared over 3 years. We included incidents identified through 9-1-1 where patient contact was made. The total number of EMS incidents per week was used as the denominator to calculate the rate of patient deaths and possible injury. We assessed for temporal and seasonal trends. RESULTS: Starting in the 10th week of 2020 there was a decrease in the number of EMS activations in the United States compared to the prior weeks and the same time period in previous years. The number of activations between week 10 and week 16 decreased by 140,292 or 26.1%. The portion of EMS activations reporting a patient disposition of death nearly doubled between the 11th and 15th weeks of 2020 (1.49%-2.77% of all activations). The number of EMS activations documenting a possible injury decreased from 18.43% to 15.27% between weeks 10 and 13. CONCLUSION: We found that early in the COVID-19 outbreak there was a significant decrease in the number of EMS responses across the United States. Simultaneously the rate of EMS-attended death doubled, while the rate of injuries decreased.


Safety of Ibuprofen in Patients With COVID-19: Causal or Confounded?


title: Review of practical recommendations for otolaryngologists and head and neck surgeons during the COVID-19 pandemic

text: INTRODUCTION: Otolaryngologists are at very high risk of COVID-19 infection while performing examination or surgery. Strict guidelines for these specialists have not already been provided, while currently available recommendations could presumably change in course of COVID-19 pandemic as the new data increases. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to synthesize evidence concerning otolaryngology during COVID-19 pandemic. It presents a review of currently existing guidelines and recommendations concerning otolaryngological procedures and surgeries during COVID-19 pandemic, and provides a collective summary of all crucial information for otolaryngologists. It summarizes data concerning COVID-19 transmission, diagnosis, and clinical presentation highlighting the information significant for otolaryngologists. METHODS: The Medline and Web of Science databases were searched without time limit using terms ''COVID-19", "SARS-CoV-2" in conjunction with "head and neck surgery", "otorhinolaryngological manifestations". RESULTS: Patients in stable condition should be consulted using telemedicine options. Only emergency consultations and procedures should be performed during COVID-19 pandemic. Mucosa-involving otolaryngologic procedures are considered high risk procedures and should be performed using enhanced PPE (N95 respirator and full face shield or powered air-purifying respirator, disposable gloves, surgical cap, gown, shoe covers). Urgent surgeries for which there is not enough time for SARS-CoV-2 screening are also considered high risk procedures. These operations should be performed in a negative pressure operating room with high-efficiency particulate air filtration. Less urgent cases should be tested for COVID-19 twice, 48 h preoperatively in 24 h interval. CONCLUSIONS: This review serves as a collection of current recommendations for otolaryngologists for how to deal with their patients during COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Using Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic

text: Telemedicine is the delivery of health care services using information or communication technology. In the current pandemic scenario, telemedicine can supplement health-care delivery in the absence of in-person visit. The Government of India has recently launched the e-sanjeevani OPD, a National teleconsultation service, which has been adopted by many state governments as mandatory for health-care providers. With Indian Medical Association issuing an advisory against the use of telemedicine except in few situations, a lot of confusion exists in the mind of a pediatrician. Despite the uncertain situation, we have to remember that other diseases shall not stall in the face of a pandemic. Since telemedicine is an evolving subject, training of medical professionals, clear guidelines and good quality internet service systems will go a long way in increasing the acceptability of telemedicine in the Indian population. We herein discuss issues related to using telemedicine during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.


title: Community quarantine strategy against coronavirus disease 2019 in Anhui: An evaluation based on trauma center patients

text: OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to introduce community quarantine strategy against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Anhui and evaluate the effectiveness of community quarantine based on trauma center (TC) patients. METHOD: The structure of community quarantine strategy was illustrated. Distribution of injuries among patients in two TCs between January 24, 2020 and February 24, 2020 was described. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the correlation between the distribution of Injuries in TCs and the number of COVID-19-associated cases. RESULTS: A total of 757 TC patients in the two hospitals were enrolled. The number of traffic injuries and outdoor injuries showed a significant decrease in the early stage and began to increase on February 17. The number of indoor injuries neither decreased nor increased. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between COVID-19-associated cases and traffic and outdoor injuries. CONCLUSION: From the perspective of the injuries in TCs, community quarantine strategy was effectively implemented and significantly slowed the outbreak of COVID-19 in Anhui. However, the implementation and maintenance of the strategy is costly and requires the participation of the entire population.


title: The effect of messaging and gender on intentions to wear a face covering to slow down COVID-19 transmission

text: Now that various countries are or will soon be moving towards relaxing shelter-in-place rules, it is important that people use a face covering, to avoid an exponential resurgence of the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Here we report a pre-registered online experiment (N=2,459) using a heterogenous, although not representative, sample of people living in the USA, where we test the relative effect of messages highlighting that the coronavirus is a threat to"you"vs"your family"vs"your community"vs"your country"on self-reported intentions to wear a face covering. Results show that focusing on"your community"promotes intentions to wear a face covering relative to the baseline; the trend is the same when comparing"your community"to the other conditions, but not significant. We also conducted pre-registered analyses of gender differences on intentions to wear a face covering. We find that men less than women intend to wear a face covering, but this difference almost disappears in counties where wearing a face covering is mandatory. We also find that men less than women believe that they will be seriously affected by the coronavirus, and this partly mediates gender differences in intentions to wear a face covering (this is particularly ironic because official statistics actually show that men are affected by the COVID-19 more seriously than women). Finally, we also find gender differences in self-reported negative emotions felt when wearing a face covering. Men more than women agree that wearing a face covering is shameful, not cool, a sign of weakness, and a stigma; and these gender differences also mediate gender differences in intentions to wear a face covering.


title: Chemical-bromatological composition and in vitro ruminal kinetics of sugar cane silage with maniçoba/ Composição químico bromatológica e cinética ruminal in vitro em silagens de cana de açúcar com maniçoba

text: The objective this study was to evaluate the effect of maniçoba supplementation in sugar cane silage with respect to chemical-bromatological composition and the in vitro degradation kinetics of the silage. This experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four treatments (maniçoba levels: 0, 20, 30, and 40%) and six repetitions. Silage samples were analyzed for their chemical-bromatological composition, digestible energy, metabolizable energy, total digestible nutrients, in vitro gas production and degradability parameters. The silage with higher inclusion level had better bromatological composition (p < 0.05) than the silage without maniçoba for CP, NDF, ADF and MM (6.49, 56.64, 38.66 and 4.52% versus 2.21, 70.96, 49.95 and 2.78%). Higher ME content (2.35 MJ kg-1 MS versus 1.85 MJ kg-1 MS), DE (2.87 Mcal kg-1 MS versus 2.25 Mcal kg-1 MS) and TDN (65.16% versus 51.11%), respectively. The highest values for gas production were also observed in silage with added maniçoba due to higher NFC content (34.87%). With an increase in the proportion of maniçoba, there was an increase in the soluble a fraction, b fraction, and thus a higher effective degradability of dry matter (46.56%). The addition of maniçoba improves the nutritive value of sugarcane silage.(AU)


What Does COVID-19 Mean for the Pathology-Urology Interaction?


Lack of protective gear disrupts oncology care


title: Macrolides and viral infections: focus on azithromycin in COVID-19 pathology

text: The emergence of the new COVID-19 virus is proving to be a challenge in seeking effective therapies. Since the most severe clinical manifestation of COVID-19 appears to be a severe acute respiratory syndrome, azithromycin has been proposed as a potential treatment. Azithromycin is known to have immunomodulating and antiviral properties. In vitro studies have demonstrated the capacity of azithromycin in reducing production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-8, IL-6, TNF alpha, reduce oxidative stress, and modulate T-helper functions. At the same time there are multiple clinical evidences of the role of azithromycin in acute respiratory distress syndrome and against Middle East Respiratory syndrome (MERS). Some preliminary evidence has demonstrated controversial results regarding efficacy of azithromycin in combination with hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19. First, a French trial demonstrated 100% virological negativizing of six patients treated with azithromycin plus hydroxychloroquine vs. 57.1% of patients treated with only hydroxychloroquine and 12.5% of the control group (P < 0.05). On the other hand, another case series revealed no efficacy at all on 11 patients treated with the same combination and doses. Furthermore, there are some concerns regarding the association of azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine because of potential QT prolongation. In fact, both drugs have this as a potential side effect and evidence regarding the safe use of this combination is controversial. Despite the necessity to quickly find solutions for COVID-19, extreme caution must be used in evaluating the risk-benefit balance. However, based on preclinical and clinical evidence and some preliminary results in COVID-19, azithromycin could have potential in the fight against this new disease.


title: [Materialism and dialectics of epidemic prevention and control: only by respecting science can we do more with less]

text: The epidemic caused by COVID-19 has been highly concerned by the international community including World Health Organization (WHO). This is an ongoing battle for human life and health. We should always remember and learn lessons from the past, which could be promoted to all over the country, even the world. Many phenomena and problems in the work of epidemic prevention, control and treatment are worthy of our deep reflection. We should use scientific approach and dialectical materialism to make a practical and realistic summary. The purpose is to win the battle as soon as possible, and more importantly, to avoid repeating the same mistakes and prevent pestilence before it happens.


Olfactory Dysfunction in COVID-19


Biologic therapy for psoriasis during the COVID-19 outbreak: The choice is to weigh risks and benefits


title: Coronavirus (COVID-19): Patient experience-Administrative services on the frontline during crisis

text: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on care delivery among health care institutions and providers in the United States. As a categorical cancer center, MD Anderson has prioritized care for our patients based on acuity of their disease. We continue to implement measures to protect patients and employees from acquiring the infection within our facilities, and to provide acute management of cancer patients with concomitant COVID-19 infections who are considered at high risk of death. The Division of Patient Experience, formerly established in October 2016, has played an integral role in the institution's pandemic response from its inception. The team actively supported programs and processes in anticipation of the pandemic's effect on our patients and employees. We will describe how the team continues to serve in the ever-dynamic environment as we approach the expected surge in COVID-19 cases among our patient population, our employees, and in our community.


Primary and Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in the Era of the Coronavirus Pandemic


Mitigating the psychological effects of social isolation during the covid-19 pandemic


Screams on a Zoom call: the theory of homeworking with kids meets reality


Corticosteroids for Common Palliative Care Symptoms #395


title: Liver Biochemistries in Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19

text: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) leads to elevated liver biochemistries in approximately half of patients on presentation. To date, data are limited regarding the trend of liver biochemistries over the course of illness. We aimed to evaluate the trend, etiology, and outcomes associated with liver biochemistries in COVID-19. A total of 60 patients with COVID-19 were admitted between March 21 and March 28, 2020. Mean age was 57 years, 65% were male and 28% were Hispanic. At study conclusion, 6 patients were deceased, 28 discharged, and 26 remained admitted. Patients who remained admitted were followed for median 12 days. Of 60 patients, 41 (69%) had at least one abnormal liver biochemistry on admission. Median aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was higher than alanine aminotransferase (ALT) at admission (46 vs. 30 U/L) and during the hospital course. Aminotransferases rose above normal in 54 (93%) patients, while alkaline phosphatase and total bilirubin elevations were rare. Ten (17%) patients developed aminotransferases more than 5 times the upper limit of normal. AST highly correlated with ALT throughout the illness course (r = 0.97; P < 0.0001), whereas correlations with markers of muscle injury and inflammation were weak. Statin use was common prior to (40%) and during admission (80%) at our center, with no difference in peak liver biochemistries between users and non-users. No demographic or comorbid illness was associated with liver injury. Admission AST (69 vs. 49; P < 0.05), peak AST (364 vs. 77; P = 0.003), and peak ALT (220 vs. 52; P = 0.002) were higher in intubated patients. Conclusion: AST-dominant aminotransferase elevation is common in COVID-19, mirrors disease severity, and appears to reflect true hepatic injury.


Daily Situation Report on Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Iran;March 13, 2020


title: Relative contributions of transmission routes for COVID-19 among healthcare personnel providing patient care

text: The routes of COVID-19 transmission to healthcare personnel from infected patients is the subject of debate, but is critical to the selection of personal protective equipment. The objective of this paper was to explore the contributions of three transmission routes-contact, droplet, and inhalation-to the risk of occupationally acquired COVID-19 infection among healthcare personnel (HCP). The method was quantitative microbial risk assessment, and an exposure model, where possible model parameters were based on data specific to the SARS-CoV-2 virus when available. The key finding was that droplet and inhalation transmission routes predominate over the contact route, contributing 35%, 57%, and 8.2% of the probability of infection, on average, without use of personal protective equipment. On average, 80% of inhalation exposure occurs when HCP are near patients. The relative contribution of droplet and inhalation depends upon the emission of SARS-CoV-2 in respirable particles (<10 µm) through exhaled breath, and inhalation becomes predominant, on average, when emission exceeds five gene copies per min. The predicted concentration of SARS-CoV-2 in the air of the patient room is low (< 1 gene copy per m3 on average), and likely below the limit of quantification for many air sampling methods. The findings demonstrate the value of respiratory protection for HCP, and that field sampling may not be sensitive enough to verify the contribution of SARS-CoV-2 inhalation to the risk of occupationally acquired COVID-19 infection among healthcare personnel. The emission and infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory droplets of different sizes is a critical knowledge gap for understanding and controlling COVID-19 transmission.


Viewpoint: Impact of the Covid-19 Outbreak on the Clinical and Research Activities of Memory Clinics: An Alzheimer's Disease Center Facing the Covid-19 Crisis


Practical experiences and suggestions for the 'eagle-eyed observer': a novel promising role for controlling nosocomial infection in the COVID-19 outbreak


title: The management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

text: In December 2019, a novel coronavirus causing severe acute respiratory disease occurred in Wuhan, China. It is an emerging infectious disease with widespread and rapid infectiousness. The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern on 31 January 2020. Severe COVID-19 patients should be managed and treated in a critical care unit. Performing a chest X-ray/CT can judge the severity of the disease. The management of COVID-19 patients includes epidemiological risk and patient isolation; treatment entails general supportive care, respiratory support, symptomatic treatment, nutritional support, psychological intervention, etc. The prognosis of the patients depends upon the severity of the disease, the patient's age, the underlying diseases of the patients, and the patient's overall medical condition. The management of COVID-19 should focus on early diagnosis, immediate isolation, general and optimized supportive care, and infection prevention and control.


title: Fomite transmission and disinfection strategies for SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses

text: Contaminated objects or surfaces, referred to as fomites, play a critical role in the spread of viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The long persistence of viruses (hours to days) on surfaces calls for an urgent need for surface disinfection strategies to intercept virus transmission and the spread of the disease. Elucidating the physicochemical processes and surface science underlying the adsorption and transfer of virus between surfaces, as well as their inactivation, are important in understanding how the disease is transmitted, and in developing effective interception strategies. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge and underlying physicochemical processes of virus transmission, in particular via fomites, and common disinfection approaches. Gaps in knowledge and needs for further research are also identified. The review focuses on SARS-CoV-2, but will supplement the discussions with related viruses.


title: CovidChain: An Anonymity Preserving Blockchain Based Framework for Protection Against Covid-19

text: Today, the entire world is facing incredible health and economic challenges due to the rapid spread of the life threatening novel Coronavirus Disease - 2019 (COVID-19). In the prevailing situation when a vaccine is many months away, the way forward seems to be a controlled exit from the lockdown - where, infected/exposed people are strictly quarantined and recovered/unexposed people are allowed to carry on with their day to day business activities. However, appropriate physical distancing norms will have to be strictly followed for such relaxations. Therefore, mechanisms are required that will assist people in following the social and physical distancing norms in public places. In this paper, we propose an anonymity preserving blockchain based framework that allows people, through use of their smart phones and other communication devices, to protect themselves from infections as they conduct their daily business activities.


title: COVID-19: Prevention and control measures in community

text: On January 30, 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern and, in March 2020, began to characterize it as a pandemic in order to emphasize the gravity of the situation and urge all countries to take action in detecting infection and preventing spread. Unfortunately, there is no medication that has been approved by the FDA, gone through controlled studies and demonstrated an effect on the virus for this global pandemic. Although there are cures for illnesses and developments made by leaps and bounds in our day, the strongest and most effective weapon that society has against this virus that is affecting not just health but also economics, politics, and social order, is the prevention of its spread. The main points in preventing the spread in society are hand hygiene, social distancing and quarantine. With increased testing capacity, detecting more COVID-19 positive patients in the community will also enable the reduction of secondary cases with stricter quarantine rules.


Is Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) seen less in countries more exposed to Malaria?


title: Correction to: Sargramostim to treat patients with acute hypoxic respiratory failure due to COVID-19 (SARPAC): A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

text: An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.


The WHO we want


Early Observation and Mitigation of Challenges in Diabetes Management of COVID-19 Patients in Critical Care Units


title: The perils of practicum in the time of COVID-19: A graduate student's perspective

text: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed competing demands on many graduate students working at practica. Though graduate programs seek to minimize potential sources of exposure to the virus, some practicum sites rely on students as essential staff. At the same time, although some students may wish to eliminate this source of potential exposure to the virus, other students may consider the opportunity to fulfill their practicum duties at a time of crisis an important part of their educational experience. Guidance published by the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers regarding internship students provides at least a starting point for programs to develop policies that allow students to make informed decisions about their practicum training. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).


Consideration on TMPRSS2 and the risk of COVID-19 infection in Cushing's syndrome


title: Study on the relationship between the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease epidemic in China and population migration from Wuhan/ 中华医学科研管理杂志

text: Objective@#To investigate the relationship between the epidemic of Coronavirus Disease in 2019 (COVID-19) in China and population migration from Wuhan before the city implemented strict migration restrictions.@*Methods@#We collected the cumulative number of confirmed cases with COVID-19 up to January 31, 2020 from the official website of the health administrative departments, and information on population migration out of Wuhan during January 10, 2020 and January 24, 2020, approximately half months prior to the implementation of strict migration restrictions by the city, from Baidu population-migration big data platform. Population migration data were provided for the top 100 cities in the form of percentage values, calculated as the number of migrants from Wuhan into these cities divided by the total number of migrants out of Wuhan during the same period multiplied by 100%. The two-independent sample non-parametric Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare the distribution of cumulative number of cases between the top 100 cities and the remaining 205 non-top 100 cities of China. The relationship between the cumulative number of cases and the percentage of migrants from Wuhan into the top 100 cities were further assessed by Pearson correlation and by multiple linear regression with adjustment for population size, population density, and GDP per capita.@*Results@#The top 100 cities accounted for 91.6% of total migrants out of Wuhan, and the top 14 cities were all in Hubei province. There were a total of 5,869 cases in the top 100 cities, with a median (interquartile range) of 21.5 (12~55) cases, whereas in the 205 non-top 100 cities there were a total of 1,063 cases, with a median (interquartile range) of 4 (2~7) cases. The median cumulative number of cases differed significantly between the two types of cities (P<0.001). Among the top 100 cities, there was a strong correlation between the percentage of migrants from Wuhan and the cumulated number of cases (Pearson correlation coefficient=0.92), and for every 1 percentage point increase in migrants from Wuhan the cumulative number of cases increased by approximately 42 (95%CI, 39 to 45). The number of cumulative number of cases in Wenzhou and Chongqing was detected as potential outliers in regression diagnosis (P<0.001, corresponding standardized residuals were 5.2 and 3.5, respectively), suggesting that the number of cases in these two cities was substantially higher than others with similar amount of migrants from Wuhan.@*Conclusions@#There is a strong positive association between the percentage of migrants from Wuhan and the epidemic status of COVID-19 infections in cities in China.


SARS-CoV-2 infection in beta thalassemia: Preliminary data from the Italian experience


title: Social-economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on aesthetic centers in Greece

text: BACKGROUND: Epidemics are a major cause of health problems in developing countries, preventing the accumulation of human capital and economic growth. On the appearance of the pandemic of the new coronavirus COVID-19 worldwide, this survey was carried out in the 4th week of the occurrence of the cases in Greece. OBJECTIVES: The investigation was aimed at the social and economic impact caused by this COVID-19 pandemic and the state's decision to suspend the operation of businesses and stores in Greece. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and fifty-eight esthetic centers from various areas of Greece were participated in this study, and the questionnaires were sent electronically to the business owners. Statistical analyzes were conducted using Google Forms and the questionnaires analyzed through PSPP software. RESULTS: Based on their answers and the statistical analyzes, it was calculated the reduction of the monthly income for the first month of suspension of the operation of their companies. Additionally, social-related matters were examined as, how they experience this period, psychologically, financially, what problems they believe that they will face, and what changes in their work that could result from the pandemic. DISCUSSION: There is no similar study and experience for esthetic centers from a viral pandemic in literature. The suspension of operations provoked serious financial problems and significant psychological burden about what "tomorrow will bring" with returning to "normalcy."


These cancer scientists turned their lab into a coronavirus-testing facility


Impact of a 10 Rules Protocol on COVID-19 Hospital-Related Transmission: Insights From Padua University Hospital, Italy


Deploying Medical Students to Combat Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic


Getting back on track: control of covid-19 outbreaks in the community


Perspectives From the Foot and Ankle Department at an Academic Orthopedic Hospital During the Surge Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York City