Plos One
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PCR methods are presently the standard for the diagnosis of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but additional methodologies are needed to complement PCR methods, which have some limitations. Here, we validated and investigated the usefulness of measuring serum antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) using the iFlash3000 CLIA analyzer. We measured IgM and IgG titers against SARS-CoV-2 in sera collected from 26 PCR-positive COVID-19 patients, 53 COVID-19-suspected but PCR-negative patients, and 20 and 100 randomly selected non-COVID-19 patients who visited our hospital in 2020 and 2017, respectively. ⋯ We observed four false-positive cases in the IgM assay and no false-positive cases in the IgG assay when 111 serum samples known to contain autoantibodies were evaluated. The concordance rates of the antibody test with the PCR test were 98.1% for SARS-CoV-2 IgM and 100% for IgG among PCR-negative cases and 30.8% for SARS-CoV-2 IgM and 73.1% for SARS-CoV-2 IgG among PCR-positive cases. In conclusion, the performance of this new automated method for detecting antibody against both N and S proteins of SARS-CoV-2 is sufficient for use in laboratory testing.
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Well-being is a major issue among health care professionals, especially physicians. Less job satisfaction and impaired health can have an impact on health care quality. Our aim was to examine the association of stressors (illegitimate tasks) and health related resources (work-related sense of coherence; recovery experience) with life satisfaction, happiness, job satisfaction and burnout among German general practitioners (GPs). ⋯ Personal, work-related and patient-related burnout symptoms are stronger in GPs working in a single practice than in GPs in group practices. Our results highlight that Work-SoC, recovery experience and illegitimate tasks are important for creating work-related well-being among GPs. Introducing health promotion activities which aim to strengthen recovery experience and Work-SoC, as well as interventions to restructure tasks, may increase life satisfaction, happiness, and job satisfaction and reduce burnout symptoms in this health care profession.
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The aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics and outcome of patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary care center in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to identify early risk factors for in-hospital mortality in these patients. ⋯ In this cohort of patients admitted to the ICU of a tertiary hospital in the UAE, COVID-19 pneumonia was associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Identifying patients at high risk of death may help detect future therapeutic targets.
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Developing an efficacious vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 infection is critical to stemming COVID-19 fatalities and providing the global community with immune protection. We have used a bioinformatic approach to aid in designing an epitope peptide-based vaccine against the spike protein of the virus. Five antigenic B cell epitopes with viable antigenicity and a total of 27 discontinuous B cell epitopes were mapped out structurally in the spike protein for antibody recognition. ⋯ The vaccine was also characterized by an increase in IgM and IgG and an array of Th1 and Th2 cytokines. Upon in silico challenge with SARS-CoV-2, there was a decrease in antigen levels using our immune simulations. We, therefore, propose that potential vaccine designs consider this approach.
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The COVID-19 pandemic remains a significant global threat. However, despite urgent need, there remains uncertainty surrounding best practices for pharmaceutical interventions to treat COVID-19. In particular, conflicting evidence has emerged surrounding the use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, alone or in combination, for COVID-19. The COVID-19 Evidence Accelerator convened by the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA, in collaboration with Friends of Cancer Research, assembled experts from the health systems research, regulatory science, data science, and epidemiology to participate in a large parallel analysis of different data sets to further explore the effectiveness of these treatments. ⋯ Administration of hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, and their combination appeared to have no effect on time to mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Continued research is needed to clarify best practices surrounding treatment of COVID-19.