Articles: coronavirus.
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Jun 2020
Efficacy and safety of tocilizumab in severe COVID-19 patients: a single-centre retrospective cohort study.
Tocilizumab (TCZ), a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting the interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor, has been proposed for the treatment of COVID-19 patients; however, limited data are available on the safety and efficacy. ⋯ At day 28, clinical improvement and mortality were not statistically different between tocilizumab and standard treatment patients in our cohort. Bacterial or fungal infections were recorded in 13% of tocilizumab patients and in 12% of standard treatment patients. Confirmation of efficacy and safety will require ongoing controlled trials.
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The current Covid-19 pandemic is a significant global health threat. The outbreak has profoundly affected all healthcare professionals, including heart surgeons. To adapt to these exceptional circumstances, cardiac surgeons had to change their practice significantly. We herein discuss the challenges and broad implications of the Covid-19 pandemic from the perspective of the heart surgeons.
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Recent international epidemics of coronavirus-associated illnesses underscore the urgent medical and public health need for vaccine development and regulatory body approved therapies. In particular, the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has quickly intensified interest in developing treatment options to mitigate impact on human life. Remdesivir (GS-5734™) is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that is now being tested as a potential treatment for COVID-19 in international, multi-site clinical trials. ⋯ As the pandemic progresses, information from human compassionate use cases will continue to accumulate before the clinical trials are concluded. It is imperative for public health practitioners and the One Health community to stay up to date on the most promising potential therapeutic options that are under investigation. Thus, the purpose of this review is to synthesize the knowledge to date about remdesivir as a therapeutic option for coronaviruses, with a special focus on information relevant to the One Health community.
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To discuss the impact of COVID-19 on global health, particularly on urological practice and to review some of the available recommendations reported in the literature. ⋯ Over the coming weeks, healthcare workers including urologists will be facing increasingly difficult challenges, and consequently, they should adopt triage strategy to avoid wasting of medical resources and they should endorse sufficient protection policies to guard against infection when dealing with COVID-19 patients.
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Evidence-based dentistry · Jun 2020
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): challenges and management of aerosol-generating procedures in dentistry.
Data sources Experimental investigation. Study design A retrospective review to evaluate the use of a negative-pressure otolaryngology viral isolation drape (NOVID) system to reduce cross-infection through aerosol. The apparatus consists of a plastic drape suspended over the surgical field in the head and neck region with a smoke evacuator suction placed inside the chamber with an ultra-low penetrating air (ULPA) efficiency rating and a fluid suction high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter compartment. ⋯ The sample size is limited to four patients and variations in the magnitude and extent of aerosol contamination needs to be investigated further before drawing any conclusions. Although unlikely, this study design did not capture the presence of aerosol/droplets in the air within the operating room which may follow removal of the isolation drape system or from exposed surgical instruments. Notwithstanding the limitations of the design, negative-pressure aspiration of air under a chamber barrier is likely to minimise the contamination from aerosol and droplet during endonasal and transoral surgery.