Articles: pandemics.
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BackgroundEstimating key infectious disease parameters from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak is essential for modelling studies and guiding intervention strategies. AimWe estimate the generation interval, serial interval, proportion of pre-symptomatic transmission and effective reproduction number of COVID-19. We illustrate that reproduction numbers calculated based on serial interval estimates can be biased. ⋯ Sensitivity analyses showed that estimating these quantities from outbreak data requires detailed contact tracing information. ConclusionHigh estimates of the proportion of pre-symptomatic transmission imply that case finding and contact tracing need to be supplemented by physical distancing measures in order to control the COVID-19 outbreak. Notably, quarantine and other containment measures were already in place at the time of data collection, which may inflate the proportion of infections from pre-symptomatic individuals.
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What started as a cluster of patients with a mysterious respiratory illness in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, was later determined to be coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The pathogen severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel Betacoronavirus, was subsequently isolated as the causative agent. SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by respiratory droplets and fomites and presents clinically with fever, fatigue, myalgias, conjunctivitis, anosmia, dysgeusia, sore throat, nasal congestion, cough, dyspnea, nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. ⋯ With many nations and regions declaring a state of emergency, unprecedented quarantine, social distancing, and border closing efforts are underway. Implementation of social and physical isolation measures has caused sudden and profound economic hardship, with marked decreases in global trade and local small business activity alike, and full ramifications likely yet to be felt. Current state-of-science, mitigation strategies, possible therapies, ethical considerations for healthcare workers and policymakers, as well as lessons learned for this evolving global threat and the eventual return to a "new normal" are discussed in this article.
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Objective To retrospectively analyze the forensic pathological postmortem examination and clinical data of children who died of viral pneumonia in identification of cause of death cases and to discuss the clinical characteristics and pathological features of viral pneumonia in children, in order to provide reference to pathological diagnosis of viral pneumonia in children caused by 2019 novel coronavirus （2019-nCoV） infection. Methods Postmortem examination data from 61 cases of children whose causes of death were identified as viral pneumonia in recent years were collected from the Center of Forensic Identification, Southern Medical University. The gender, age, clinical symptoms and pathological features were comparatively analyzed. ⋯ Viral infections often affected the heart and gastrointestinal tract. Conclusion The clinical symptoms of children with viral pneumonia are difficult to notice, and because the immune systems of children are not fully developed and they have poor immunity, they can easily become severely ill and even die. Analyzing the forensic autopsies and the histopathological characteristics could provide reference for pathological diagnosis of viral pneumonia.
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BackgroundThe ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has major impacts on health systems, the economy and society. Assessing infection attack rates in the population is critical for estimating disease severity and herd immunity which is needed to calibrate public health interventions. We have previously shown that it is possible to achieve this in real time to impact public health decision making. ⋯ We found that PRNT90 tests were more sensitive in detecting antibody than MN tests carried out with the conventional 100 tissue culture infectious dose challenge. Heparinised plasma appeared to reduce the infectivity of the virus challenge dose and may confound interpretation of neutralisation test. ConclusionUsing IgG ELISA based on the RBD of the spike protein to screen sera for SARS-CoV-2 antibody, followed by confirmation using PRNT90, is a valid approach for large-scale sero-epidemiology studies.
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Xi Bao Yu Fen Zi Mian Yi Xue Za Zhi · Apr 2020
[Exploration and practice of online teaching system of medical immunology based on small private online course (SPOC) model during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic].
During the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Chinese Ministry of Education put forward the requirement of turning offline education into online teaching to universities. Our department positively responded and rapidly mobilized to establish an online teaching system of medical immunology based on the small private online course (SPOC) model, which has a main body of the SPOC model with "video course as the main part, supplemented by online Q&A". ⋯ In this process, our department continuously summarizes experiences and discovers problems. Herein, we generalize and sort out the exploration and practice of constructing the online teaching system, to carry out offline teaching after the pandemic and to continue this teaching model in the future, for reference and guidance.