Epidemiol Prev
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Comparative Study
Clinical characteristics and management of COVID-19 patients accessing the emergency department in a hospital in Northern Italy in March and April 2020.
the emergency due to SARS-CoV-2 pandemic struck the national and regional health system that needed an effort to reorganise and increase resources to cope with a sudden, uncertain, and previously unknown situation. This study was conducted in the immediate aftermath of this difficult period. ⋯ the results of this study suggest that in few weeks of COVID-19 epidemic both management of the patients at the hospital level - and probably at territorial level resulting in a different population who accessed to the ED - and the clinical characteristics of the COVID-19 patients changed.
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The determinants of the risk of becoming infected by SARS-CoV-2, contracting COVID-19, and being affected by the more serious forms of the disease have been generally explored in merely qualitative terms. It seems reasonable to argue that the risk patterns for COVID-19 have to be usefully studied in quantitative terms too, whenever possible applying the same approach to the relationship 'dose of the exposure vs pathological response' commonly used for chemicals and already followed for several biological agents to SARS-CoV-2, too. Such an approach is of particular relevance in the fields of both occupational epidemiology and occupational medicine, where the identification of the sources of a dangerous exposure and of the web of causation of a disease is often questionable and questioned: it is relevant when evaluating the population risk, too. ⋯ A limited but consistent set of papers supporting these assumptions has been traced in the literature. Under these premises, the creation of a structured inventory of both values of viral concentrations in the air (in case and if possible, of surface contaminations too) and of viral loads in biological matrixes is proposed, with the subsequent construction of a scenario-exposure matrix. A scenario-exposure matrix for SARS-CoV-2 may represent a useful tool for research and practical risk management purposes, helping to understand the possibly critical circumstances for which no direct exposure measure is available (this is an especially frequent case, in contexts of low socio-economic level) and providing guidance to determine evidence-based public health strategies.
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about two months after the end of the lockdown imposed for the containment of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, the contagion dynamics in the Tuscany Region (Central Italy) have been assessed from the beginning of the emergency to the end of June through a compartmental model, and future medium-long term projections have been produced. ⋯ the estimated trend of R0(t) is suggestive of a strong effect of the lockdown in Tuscany and of a mild increase of the contagion potentially attributable to the easing of the containment measures. Medium-long term projections unequivocally indicate that the danger of a new epidemic wave has not been averted.
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Comparative Study
[Did social isolation during the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic have an impact on the lifestyles of citizens?]
to study the impact of social isolation, related to the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, on lifestyles in Italy, with particular reference to physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, and eating habits. Moreover, to investigate the association between lifestyle changes during the pandemic and sociodemographic characteristics. ⋯ the results of this survey show that social isolation during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had an impact on citizens' behaviours. In particular, it was found a noteworthy increase in sedentariness, alcohol consumption, and tobacco smoking. A meaningful proportion of respondents reported a worsening of eating habits, especially among women. However, for each of the behavioural risk factors investigated, small proportions of respondents with resilient attitudes were also found, namely, capable of taking advantage of social isolation for improving their daily habits. Studying changes in lifestyles during a pandemic, identifying population groups most at risk of adopting unfavourable behaviours, is a useful tool for policy makers to plan targeted and effective public health interventions.
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to describe the clinical and demographical characteristics of COVID-19 infected people in the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (FVG, Northern Italy). ⋯ the greatest risk of hospitalisation/death as a measure of more severe illness was confirmed for males, elderly, and for individuals with comorbidities. Flu vaccination seemed to have had a protective effect while pneumococcal vaccination likely identified a group of high-risk patients to be actively monitored. For patients infected in the territory, different hospitalisation strategies were implemented by the regional health districts.