Articles: pandemics.
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Geriatr Orthop Surg Rehabil · Jan 2020
The Epidemiology of Fractures and Muskulo-Skeletal Traumas During COVID-19 Lockdown: A Detailed Survey of 17.591 Patients in a Wide Italian Metropolitan Area.
On 9 March 2020 the Italian Government declared a national lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19. The aim of our study was to analyze the effects of such intervention on the traumatological emergency service, with particular emphasis on variations in trauma incidence and patients' characteristics. ⋯ The lockdown reduced the pressure on the Health System in at least 2 ways: directly, by curbing viral transmission and indirectly, by more than halving the ED trauma visits. Nonetheless, we observed an increased proportion of traumas in older patients, requiring hospitalizations, while the rate of less-severe cases decreased. This analysis may raise awareness of the effects of a lockdown on trauma services and may be helpful for those ones around the world who are now facing the emergency.
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As the spread of COVID19 in the US continues to grow, local and state officials face difficult decisions about when and how to transition to a "new normal." The goal of this study is to project the number of COVID19 infections and resulting severe outcomes, and the need for hospital capacity under social distancing, particularly, shelter-in-place and voluntary quarantine for the State of Georgia. We developed an agent-based simulation model to project the infection spread. The model utilizes COVID19-specific parameters and data from Georgia on population interactions and demographics. ⋯ The cumulative number of deaths ranged from 6,660 to 19,430 under different scenarios. Peak infection date varied across scenarios and counties; on average, increasing shelter-in-place duration delayed the peak day by 6 days. Overall, shelter-in-place followed by voluntary quarantine substantially reduced COVID19 infections, healthcare resource needs, and severe outcomes.
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The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is the defining global health crisis of our time. Health care systems globally are amid an unprecedented challenge. Since its emergence in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, the virus has spread to 185 countries worldwide, with more than 2.63 million cases confirmed and more than 183 thousand related deaths (as of 23/04/2020). ⋯ The interim Editor in Chief of the current issue, would like to express her gratitude to Professor Emeritus Philip Grammaticos for his contribution to the global scientific community as well as to the incoming Editor in Chief Konstantinos Anagnostopoulos, MD, PhD, FRCP, FESC for accepting this new role. We wholeheartedly welcome the new Editor in Chief and the new members of the Editorial Board, wishing them an active, attentive and successful mandate. Hellenic Journal of Nuclear Medicine will remain true to the set principles, values and past and prepared to cope with future challenges in the scientific and clinical setting.
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Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992) · Jan 2020
COVID-19 and health literacy: the yell of a silent epidemic amidst the pandemic.
The emergence of a new form of Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) exposed weaknesses of health services in several countries, with overcrowding of hospitals, and lack of supplies and professionals in combating the disease, which sometimes contributed to the installation of social, political, and economic chaos. The critical situation experienced made the subject widely publicized so that the current pandemic also deals with an information epidemic. ⋯ The exponential increase in the number of confirmed cases shows the world population's inadequacy and difficulty in understanding basic prevention guidelines. The COVID-19 pandemic warns of gaps in the health literacy levels of the world population and exposes the need for a comprehensive mapping to identify the overall health literacy status in more countries.
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Einstein (Sao Paulo) · Jan 2020
Quality and safety innovations in the Radiology Department during the COVID-19 pandemic: a Latin American experience.
Radiology departments were forced to make significant changes in their routine during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, to prevent further transmission of the coronavirus and optimize medical care as well. In this article, we describe our Radiology Department's policies in a private hospital for coronavirus disease 2019 preparedness focusing on quality and safety for the patient submitted to imaging tests, the healthcare team involved in the exams, the requesting physician, and for other patients and hospital environment.