Journal of infection and public health
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J Infect Public Health · Oct 2020
ReviewRole of vitamin D in preventing of COVID-19 infection, progression and severity.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a global public health crisis. Little is known about the protective factors of this infection. Therefore, preventive health measures that can reduce the risk of infection, progression and severity are desperately needed. ⋯ Thus, people who are at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency during this global pandemic should consider taking vitamin D supplements to maintain the circulating 25(OH)D in the optimal levels (75-125nmol/L). In conclusion, there is not enough evidence on the association between vitamin D levels and COVID-19 severity and mortality. Therefore, randomized control trials and cohort studies are necessary to test this hypothesis.
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J Infect Public Health · Oct 2020
ReviewThe first few cases and fatalities of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Eastern Mediterranean Region of the World Health Organization: A rapid review.
In December 2019, a cluster of atypical Pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China were reported to the World Health Organization (WHO). Later, those cases were attributed to a novel respiratory virus currently known as COVID-19. The infection is affecting every continent. ⋯ Much uncertainty still surrounds this viral infection, its modes of transmission and dynamics. Epidemiological investigations particularly for the first few cases of COVID-19 infection are critical to expand our knowledge about this evolving pandemic. In this review we summarized the data available about the first few cases and fatalities of COVID-19 infection up to 18 March 2020 across Eastern Mediterranean Region of the World Health Organization. such data were only available in websites of ministries of health of the targeted countries, WHO situational reports, online newspapers, and other media channels and this gave us an idea about the amount and type of data available for the public regarding this evolving infection.
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J Infect Public Health · Oct 2020
An overview of the safety, clinical application and antiviral research of the COVID-19 therapeutics.
Since a novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak in late December 2019, coronavirus disease -19 (COVID-19) epidemic has gradually spread worldwide, becoming a major public health event. No specific antivirals are currently available for COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The treatments for COVID-19 are mainly based on the experiences of similar virus such SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, HIV and influenza viruses. ⋯ In this article, we reviewed the current options for COVID-19 therapy including small molecules such as Remdesivir, Favipiravir, Lopinavir/Ritonavir etc, peptide inhibitors of ACE2, Traditional Chinese Medicines and Biologics such as SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralizing antibodies, mesenchymal stem cells and vaccines etc. Meanwhile, we systematically reviewed their clinical safety, clinical applications and progress of antiviral researches. The therapeutic effect of these antiviral drugs is summarized and compared, hoping to provide some ideas for clinical options of COVID-19 treatment and also provide experiences for the life-threatening virus diseases in the future.
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J Infect Public Health · Oct 2020
An analytical study on the awareness, attitude and practice during the COVID-19 pandemic in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new variable of the Coronaviridae family. COVID-19 spreads primarily by contacting the virus either from a COVID-19-infected individual through coughing or sneezing or from COVID-19-contaminated surfaces. On March 12, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced COVID-19 as a pandemic. The government of Saudi Arabia was among the first countries in the world to take quick and serious precautions. The Ministry of Health (MOH) has made the public aware of the virus transmission patterns and the importance of quarantine and curfew. Despite strict measures taken, the awareness of people towards infectious viruses remains the most important factor in limiting the widespread of diseases. ⋯ Despite the moderate public awareness, their attitude and practice were better. Therefore, public awareness must be improved to be prepared for epidemic and pandemic situations. A comprehensive public health education program is important to increase awareness and to reach sufficient knowledge.
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J Infect Public Health · Oct 2020
Research on COVID-19 based on ARIMA modelΔ-Taking Hubei, China as an example to see the epidemic in Italy.
COVID-19 has spread throughout the world; various forecast models have been used to predict the development of the pandemic. The number of new cases from the outbreak to zero has gone through a complete cycle in Hubei, China, on lockdown over coronavirus. So, we created the time series ARIMA models for new cases and new deaths daily during this period. Moreover, these models have been used in Italy, which has the same population conditions and on lockdown as Hubei, in order to predict the epidemic in Italy in the next ten days and provide a theoretical basis for the development of pandemics in some countries in the future.