Articles: pandemics.
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JMIR Public Health Surveill · Apr 2020
Knowledge and Perceptions of COVID-19 Among Health Care Workers: Cross-Sectional Study.
During the first week of March, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak reached more than 100 countries with over 100,000 cases. Health care authorities have already initiated awareness and preparedness activities worldwide. A poor understanding of the disease among health care workers (HCWs) may result in delayed treatment and result in the rapid spread of the infection. ⋯ As the global threat of COVID-19 continues to emerge, it is critical to improve the knowledge and perceptions of HCWs. Educational interventions are urgently needed to reach HCWs worldwide, and further studies are warranted.
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Personal protective equipment (PPE) is key to protecting healthcare workers from COVID-19 infection, but the pandemic has disrupted supply chains globally and necessitated rapid review of the scientific evidence for PPE re-use. In South Africa, where the COVID-19 epidemic is still developing, healthcare facilities have a short window of opportunity to improve PPE supply chains, train staff on prudent PPE use, and devise plans to track and manage the inevitable increases in PPE demand. This article discusses the available PPE preservation strategies and addresses the issue of decontamination and re-use of N95 respirators as a last-resort strategy for critical shortages during the pandemic.
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The first critically ill patient admitted to our hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, during the COVID-19 pandemic was co-infected with HIV and SARS-CoV-2. Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) and other respiratory opportunistic infections share many clinical features with severe COVID-19. Our understanding of the nuances of co-management of HIV and COVID-19 is evolving. We describe the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges presented by this case.
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J Infect Dev Ctries · Apr 2020
Sustainable health promotion for the seniors during COVID-19 outbreak: a lesson from Tokyo.
The COVID-19 pandemic is novel corona virus infection outbreak that has gone global in 2020. Current prevention policies consist of hand hygiene and social distancing. Emergencies overloaded health services and shocked the logistics chains in many countries, especially Italy and China. ⋯ Home exercise is a practical option. Therefore, we made a home-version of the functional training exercise video with different sets of 10-minutes exercise for 7 days a week. This breakthrough alternative may sustain health promotion for the elderly persons to preserve their active aging and maintain optimal health.