Articles: coronavirus.
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Journal of orthodontics · Dec 2020
The effective use of an e-dentistry service during the COVID-19 crisis.
In 2020, we experienced the largest disruption to normal life recorded in recent years with the COVID-19 global pandemic. Creative thinking was required to ensure patient care was maintained. In this article, we share a service evaluation and experiences dealing with the crisis through using a virtual office approach with video conferencing to manage emergency consultations, treatment reviews, new patient and multidisciplinary clinics in a hospital orthodontic unit.
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COVID-19 is a new infectious disease causing severe respiratory failure and death for which optimal treatment is currently unclear. Many therapies have been proven to be ineffective; however, promising findings related to corticosteroid therapy have been published. Analysis of published data including in this issue suggests that therapy with corticosteroids in the range of 6 mg of dexamethasone (or equivalent) per day likely has a positive effect in patients requiring mechanical ventilation but there remains considerable doubt in patients over the age of 70, in patients with diabetes and patients with milder disease. Clinicians must consider the individual potential risks and benefits of corticosteroid in patients with COVID-19 rather than routinely using them until more data is available.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2020
Grief Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Multiple Group Comparisons.
Grief researchers are concerned that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic will precipitate increases in severe, persistent, and disabling grief, termed prolonged grief disorder or persistent complex bereavement disorder. We recently demonstrated that higher grief levels are experienced after COVID-19-related bereavement than natural bereavement. Death circumstances during the pandemic (e.g., reduced social support, limited opportunities for death rituals) may also hamper the grief process for non-COVID-19-related bereavement, yet no quantitative research has specifically addressed this issue. ⋯ Among all bereaved persons, grief severity was no different during the pandemic compared with before the pandemic. However, experiencing a recent loss during the pandemic elicited more severe acute grief reactions than before the pandemic, suggesting that dealing with loss may be more difficult during this ongoing health crisis.
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Antibody testing has recently emerged as an option to assist with determining exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Elucidation of the kinetics and duration of the humoral response is important for clinical management and interpreting results from serological surveys. ⋯ This study demonstrates the Abbott IgM assay against SARS-CoV-2 is detected slightly earlier compared to IgG, with both tests exhibiting excellent overall sensitivity and specificity. In symptomatic patients who test negative by PCR for a SARS-CoV-2 infection, assessing IgM and IgG antibodies can aid in supporting a diagnosis of COVID-19.
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Mastoid surgery is an aerosol-generating procedure that involves the use of a high-speed drill, which produces a mixture of water, bone, blood and tissue that may contain the viable coronavirus disease 2019 pathogen. This potentially puts the surgeon and other operating theatre personnel at risk of acquiring the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 from contact with droplets or aerosols. The use of an additional drape designed to limit the spread of droplets and aerosols has been described; such drapes include the 'Southampton Tent' and 'OtoTent'. ⋯ During mastoid surgery, the dispersion of macroscopic droplets and other particulate matter was confined within the novel drape 'tent'. Use of this drape 'tent' had no adverse effects upon the surgeon's manual dexterity or efficiency, the view of the surgical field, or the sterility. Hence, our findings support its use during mastoid surgery in the coronavirus disease 2019 era.