Articles: coronavirus.
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Nov 2020
Concerns Expressed by Chinese Social Media Users During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Content Analysis of Sina Weibo Microblogging Data.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global health crisis that is affecting economies and societies worldwide. During times of uncertainty and unexpected change, people have turned to social media platforms as communication tools and primary information sources. Platforms such as Twitter and Sina Weibo have allowed communities to share discussion and emotional support; they also play important roles for individuals, governments, and organizations in exchanging information and expressing opinions. However, research that studies the main concerns expressed by social media users during the pandemic is limited. ⋯ Concerns expressed by social media users are highly correlated with the evolution of the global pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media has provided a platform for Chinese government departments and organizations to better understand public concerns and demands. Similarly, social media has provided channels to disseminate information about epidemic prevention and has influenced public attitudes and behaviors. Government departments, especially those related to health, can create appropriate policies in a timely manner through monitoring social media platforms to guide public opinion and behavior during epidemics.
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Case Reports
A Case of Severe Acute Pancreatitis Secondary to COVID-19 Infection in a 30-Year-Old Male Patient.
A 30-year-old male with no significant medical history presented to the emergency department with complaints of fever, two days of intermittent abdominal pain, dry cough, nausea, vomiting, four days of diarrhea, and worsening dyspnea. Initial evaluation revealed a fever of (102.5 F) and tachycardia (114/min) with hypoxia (SaO2: 84% on room air) and bilateral wheezing on lung auscultation. X-ray of the chest revealed bilateral and peripheral ground-glass and consolidative pulmonary opacities. ⋯ His COVID-19 test came positive, and he was admitted to the intensive-care unit. He was managed symptomatically, and improvement in his clinical condition was observed after three days of admission. This case highlights a possible association between Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), abdominal pain secondary to acute pancreatitis, and the need for meticulous clinical evaluation in patients presenting with gastrointestinal complaints.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious infectious disease, responsible for a global pandemic that began in January 2020. Human/COVID-19 interactions cause different outcomes ranging from minor health consequences to death. Since social interaction is the default mode by which individuals communicate with their surroundings, different modes of contagion can play a role in determining the long-term consequences for mental health and emotional well-being. We examined some basic aspects of human social interaction, emphasizing some particular features of the emotional contagion. Moreover, we analyzed the main report that described brain damage related to the COVID-19 infection. Indeed, the goal of this review is to suggest a possible explanation for the relationships among emotionally impaired people, brain damage, and COVID-19 infection. ⋯ Although our knowledge on the biology and long-term clinical outcomes of the COVID-19 infection is largely limited, approaching the pandemic based on lessons learnt from previous outbreaks of infectious diseases and the biology of other coronaviruses will provide a suitable pathway for developing public mental health strategies, which could be positively translated into therapeutic approaches, attempting to improve stress coping responses, thus contributing to alleviate the burden driven by the pandemic.
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The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) around the world has put a heavy burden on human society and is also a great challenge facing medical staff. This study aimed to assess the difficulties faced by health care personnel (HCP) in using personal protective equipment (PPE) in clinical practice during the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China. One hundred twenty medical staff from the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University presented to the Wuhan First Hospital to provide medical assistance, from whom 20 HCP volunteered to participate in a focus group discussion attended by infection control nurse leaders. ⋯ Observed difficulties included inappropriate PPE sizes, the design of the PPE and its complexity of use, doubts related to the quality and effectiveness of PPE, potential risks during doffing, space layout between clean and contaminated area, and poor comfort with PPE use. Other factors, such as the support environment, management, processes, preparedness, HCP, and equipment can also have a positive or negative impact on the use of PPE. Future efforts to optimize PPE use should focus on strengthening training for HCP using real items for increasing compliance with standardized protocols, improving PPE design, and performing further research on the risks, benefits, and best practices of PPE use.
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Clinical Trial
First clinical study using HCV protease inhibitor danoprevir to treat COVID-19 patients.
As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak globally, repurposing approved drugs is emerging as important therapeutic options. Danoprevir boosted by ritonavir (Ganovo) is a potent hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease (NS3/4A) inhibitor, which was approved and marketed in China since 2018 to treat chronic hepatitis C patients. ⋯ Our findings suggest that repurposing danoprevir for COVID-19 is a promising therapeutic option.