Plos One
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Since December 2019, an increasing number of cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Now, more cases have been reported in 200 other countries and regions. The pandemic disease not only affects physical health who suffered it, but also affects the mental health of the general population. This study aims to know about the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of living using EQ-5D in general population in China. ⋯ The article provides important evidence on HRQOL during the COVID-19 pandemic. The risk of pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression in general population in China raised significantly with aging, with chronic disease, lower income, epidemic effects, worried about get COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results from each categorical data can be used for future healthcare measures among general population.
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A significant proportion of patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) suffer from excessive coagulation activation and coagulopathy which is associated with an increased risk of venous and arterial thromboembolism and adverse outcome. Our study investigates coagulation markers and the incidence of thromboembolic events in COVID-19 patients receiving recommended anticoagulation strategies. ⋯ We find coagulation alterations in COVID-19 patients indicating significant hypercoagulability. These alterations are visible despite antithrombotic treatment, and peak around week 3-4 of the disease.
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The response to the COVID-19 epidemic is generating severe shortages of personal protective equipment around the world. In particular, the supply of N95 respirator masks has become severely depleted, with supplies having to be rationed and health care workers having to use masks for prolonged periods in many countries. We sought to test the ability of 7 different decontamination methods: autoclave treatment, ethylene oxide gassing (ETO), low temperature hydrogen peroxide gas plasma (LT-HPGP) treatment, vaporous hydrogen peroxide (VHP) exposure, peracetic acid dry fogging (PAF), ultraviolet C irradiation (UVCI) and moist heat (MH) treatment to decontaminate a variety of different N95 masks following experimental contamination with SARS-CoV-2 or vesicular stomatitis virus as a surrogate. ⋯ Pleated, layered non-woven fabric N95 masks retained integrity in fit testing for at least 10 cycles of autoclaving but the molded N95 masks failed after 1 cycle; filtration testing however was intact to 5 cycles for all masks. The successful application of autoclaving for layered, pleated masks may be of particular use to institutions globally due to the virtually universal accessibility of autoclaves in health care settings. Given the ability to modify widely available heating cabinets on hospital wards in well-resourced settings, the application of moist heat may allow local processing of N95 masks.
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The extent to which people implement government-issued protective measures is critical in preventing further spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Our study aimed to describe the public belief in the effectiveness of protective measures, the reported implementation of these measures, and to identify communication channels used to acquire information on COVID-19 in European countries during the early stage of the pandemic. ⋯ During the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, belief in the effectiveness of protective measures among survey respondents from three European countries was high and participants reported feeling sufficiently informed. In March 2020, implementation of measures differed between countries and were highest among respondents from Italy, who were subjected to the most stringent lockdown measures and greatest COVID-19 burden in Europe during this period.
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The use of biomass fuel is associated with the deterioration of human health and women are more likely to develop health conditions due to their exposure to indoor air pollution during cooking. This study was conducted to assess the pattern of fuel used for cooking in households as well as to determine the association between the types of fuel used with respect to socio-demographic characteristics and health status of women. A community based cross-sectional survey was conducted between August 2016 and September 2018 in four rural areas and one semi-urban area of Udupi district, Karnataka, India. ⋯ A positive trend was observed between cumulative exposure to biomass in hour-years and various self-reported health symptoms/conditions (p < 0.001). It was observed that more than two-thirds of women using biomass fuel for cooking were positively associated with self-reported health symptoms. Further longitudinal studies are essential to determine the level of harmful air pollutants in household environment and its association with various health conditions among women in this region.