Articles: coronavirus.
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Am. J. Clin. Pathol. · Sep 2020
Distribution of SARS-CoV-2 PCR Cycle Threshold Values Provide Practical Insight Into Overall and Target-Specific Sensitivity Among Symptomatic Patients.
We examined the distribution of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) cycle threshold (CT) values obtained from symptomatic patients being evaluated for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to determine the proportion of specimens containing a viral load near the assay limit of detection (LoD) to gain practical insight to the risk of false-negative results. We also examined the relationship between CT value and patient age to determine any age-dependent difference in viral load or test sensitivity. ⋯ Based on the distribution of observed CT values, including the small proportion of specimens with values near the assay LoD, there is a low risk of false-negative RT-PCR results in combined nasopharyngeal-oropharyngeal specimens obtained from symptomatic individuals.
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At the onset of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in the United States, testing was limited to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-developed reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay. The urgent and massive demand for testing prompted swift development of assays to detect SARS-CoV-2. The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of these newly developed tests. ⋯ Overall performance in this SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection challenge was excellent, providing confidence in the results of these new molecular tests and assurance for the clinical and public health decisions based on these test results.
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Am. J. Clin. Pathol. · Sep 2020
Case ReportsSARS-CoV-2 Infection-Associated Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis.
A subset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients exhibit clinical features of cytokine storm. However, clinicopathologic features diagnostic of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) have not been reported. We studied the reticuloendothelial organs of 4 consecutive patients who died of COVID-19 and correlated with clinical and laboratory parameters to detect HLH. ⋯ This is the first report of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-associated HLH. Identification of HLH in a subset of patients with severe COVID-19 will inform clinical trials of therapeutic strategies.
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Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), originally, from Wuhan, China, has now spread to most countries across the globe and devastated global healthcare systems. The impact of this disease has, however, shown baffling variations in prevalence in different regions of the world. The aim of this short review is to identify differential national COVID-19 prevalence of COVID-19, as well as to suggest these epidemiological differences. Methods A review of studies was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar search engines. Search tactics were centered on COVID-19 ("COVID-19" AND "coronavirus") and BCG vaccination ("BCG vaccination" OR "Bacillus Calmette-Guérin" OR "vaccine") Results It is found that national prevalence differences may be linked with BCG childhood immunization history. ⋯ Conclusions National differences in COVID-19 cases can be attributable to immunologic regulations, such as BCG vaccination protocols. Caution should be taken in establishing a correlation between COVID-19 prevalence and BCG vaccination, partly due to the weak quality of statistical data on COVID-19 related to poor testing rates in countries with BCG vaccination policy. Nonetheless, the analysis of the epidemiological aspects of COVID-19 will shed light on future efforts towards effective control and prevention.
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To generate recommendations on the management of radiotherapeutic treatments during the pandemic, adapted to a country with limited health resources. ⋯ We propose strategies for the management of radiotherapy services to guarantee the continuity of high-quality treatments despite the health crisis caused by COVID-19.