Int J Biol Sci
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As a city famous for tourism, the public healthcare system of Macau SAR has been under great pressure during the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this study, we report clinical and microbiological features of ten COVID-19 patients enrolled in the Centro Hospitalar Conde de São Januário (CHCSJ) between January 21 to February 16, 2020. Clinical samples from all patients including nasopharyngeal swab (NPS)/sputum, urine, and feces were collected for serial virus RNA testing by standard qRT-PCR assay. ⋯ In the "Severe" group, there was significantly more elderly patients (p=0.045), higher lactate dehydrogenase levels (p=0.002), and elevated C-Reactive protein levels compared to the "Mild to Moderate" group (p<0.001). There were positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA signals in all patients' NPS and stool specimens but negative in all urine specimens. Based on our data on SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding in stool and the possibility of a lag in viral detection in NPS specimens, the assessment of both fecal and respiratory specimen is recommended to enhance diagnostic sensitivity, and also to aid discharge decision before the role of viral RNA shedding in stool is clarified.
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The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been rapidly transmitted in China, Macau, Hong Kong, and other Asian and European counterparts. This COVID-19 epidemic has aroused increasing attention nationwide. Patients, health professionals, and the general public are under insurmountable psychological pressure which may lead to various psychological problems, such as anxiety, fear, depression, and insomnia. ⋯ In addition, mental health professionals and expert groups are stationed in designated isolation hospitals to provide on-site services. Experts have reached a consensus on the admission of patients with severe mental illness during the COVID-19 outbreak in mental health institutions. Nevertheless, the rapid transmission of the COVID-19 has emerged to mount a serious challenge to the mental health service in China.
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Mutation and adaptation have driven the co-evolution of coronaviruses (CoVs) and their hosts, including human beings, for thousands of years. Before 2003, two human CoVs (HCoVs) were known to cause mild illness, such as common cold. The outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) have flipped the coin to reveal how devastating and life-threatening an HCoV infection could be. ⋯ Importantly, we compare and contrast the different HCoVs from a perspective of virus evolution and genome recombination. The current CoV disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic is discussed in this context. In addition, the requirements for successful host switches and the implications of virus evolution on disease severity are also highlighted.
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In December 2019, an acute respiratory disease caused by novel species of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in China and has spread throughout the world. On 11th March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) a pandemic, severe coronavirus-mediated human disease. Based on genomic and phylogenetic studies, SARS-CoV-2 might originate from bat coronaviruses and infects humans directly or through intermediate zoonotic hosts. ⋯ COVID-19 shares both the main clinical features and excessive/dysregulated cell responses with the two previous Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS) epidemics. In this review, we provide an update of the current knowledge on the COVID-19 pandemic. Gaining a deeper understanding of SARS-CoV-2 structure, transmission routes, and molecular responses, will assist in the prevention and control of COVID-19 outbreaks in the future.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, with acute respiratory failure as the most significant symptom, has led to a global pandemic. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is considered as the most important receptor of SARS-CoV-2 and wildly expressed in human tissues. Whereas, the extremely low expression of ACE2 in lung could hardly interpret the severe symptom of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients. ⋯ Our data supposed that fourteen types of tumors might have different susceptibility to the virus according to ACE2, TMPRSS2 and IFITM3 expression patterns. Interestingly the prognosis of six types of cancers including breast carcinoma (BRCA), lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC), renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD), and hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) were closely related to these gene expressions. Our study explored the expression and distribution profiles of two potential novel molecules that might participate in SARS-CoV-2 infection and involved in immunity, which may provide a functional basis for preventing infection of SARS-CoV-2.