PeerJ
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In mid-December 2019, a novel atypical pneumonia broke out in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and was caused by a newly identified coronavirus, initially termed 2019 Novel Coronavirus and subsequently severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of 19 May 2020, a total of 4,731,458 individuals were reported as infected with SARS-CoV-2 among 213 countries, areas or territories with recorded cases, and the overall case-fatality rate was 6.6% (316,169 deaths among 4,731,458 recorded cases), according to the World Health Organization. Studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 is notably similar to (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus) SARS-CoV that emerged in 2002-2003 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) that spread during 2012, and these viruses all contributed to global pandemics. ⋯ However, obstacles remain, including the global shortage of testing kits and the presentation of false negatives. Experts suggest that almost everyone in China is susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and to date, there are no effective treatments. In light of the references published, this review demonstrates the biological features, spread, diagnosis and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 as a whole and aims to analyse the similarities and differences among SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV to provide new ideas and suggestions for prevention, diagnosis and clinical treatment.
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Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is a global health threat with significant medical, economic, social and political implications. The optimal strategies for combating COVID-19 have not been fully determined and vary across countries. ⋯ The emergence and spread of COVID-19 is a threat to health worldwide. Taiwan has reported lower infected cases and its strategies may contribute to further disease prevention and control.
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Obesity is a global epidemic in the industrialized and developing world, and many children suffer from obesity-related complications. Gut microbiota dysbiosis might have significant effect on the development of obesity. The microbiota continues to develop through childhood and thus childhood may be the prime time for microbiota interventions to realize health promotion or disease prevention. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the structure and function of pediatric gut microbiota. ⋯ Our results showed a decrease in gut microbiota abundance and diversity as the BMI increased. Variations in the bacterial community structure were associated with obesity. Gut microbiota dysbiosis might play a crucial part in the development of obesity in Chinese children.
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This systematic review aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the school health's assessment tools in primary schools through COSMIN Risk of Bias checklist. We examined the studies that have addressed the measurement properties of school-health instruments to give a clear overview of the quality of all available tools measuring school health in primary schools. This systematic review was registered in PROPERO with the Registration ID: CRD42020158158. ⋯ The number of studies addressing school health assessment tools was very low and therefore not sufficient. Hence, there is a serious need to investigate the psychometric properties of the available instruments measuring school health at primary schools. Moreover, the studies included in the present systematic review did not fulfill all the criteria of the COSMIN checklist for assessing measurement properties. We suggest that future studies consider these criteria for measuring psychometric properties and developing school health assessment tools.
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Coronovirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, which originated from Wuhan, China, has seized the whole world in its grasp and created a huge pandemic situation before humanity. Since December 2019, genomes of numerous isolates have been sequenced and analyzed for testing confirmation, epidemiology, and evolutionary studies. In the first half of this article, we provide a detailed review of the history and origin of COVID-19, followed by the taxonomy, nomenclature and genome organization of its causative agent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). ⋯ A total of 100-nucleotide segment-based homology studies revealed that the majority of the SARS-CoV-2 genome segments are close to Bat CoV, followed by some to Pangolin CoV, and some are unique ones. Open pan-genome of genus Betacoronavirus members indicates the diversity contributed by the novel viruses emerging in this group. Overall, the exploration of the diversity of these isolates, mutational hotspots and pan-genome will shed light on the evolution and pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 and help in developing putative methods of diagnosis and treatment.