Articles: sars-cov-2.
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Recent reports suggest that obesity is a risk factor for more severe coronavirus disease. This article summarizes the available scientific evidence on the role of obesity in COVID-19. ⋯ We consider implications of the pandemic for people with obesity in relation to: difficulties in managing hospitalized patients, implications of confinement for the control and treatment of obesity, and the stigma people with obesity suffer, that could increase should the relationship between obesity and COVID-19 be confirmed. Understanding the role of obesity in COVID-19 should be a public health priority, given the high prevalence of this condition in our country.
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Drug development research · Aug 2020
Angiotensin receptor blockers as tentative SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics.
At the time of writing this commentary (February 2020), the coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic has already resulted in more fatalities compared with the SARS and MERS coronavirus epidemics combined. Therapeutics that may assist to contain its rapid spread and reduce its high mortality rates are urgently needed. Developing vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus may take many months. ⋯ A tentative suggestion based on existing therapeutics, which would likely be resistant to new coronavirus mutations, is to use available angiotensin receptor 1 (AT1R) blockers, such as losartan, as therapeutics for reducing the aggressiveness and mortality from SARS-CoV-2 virus infections. This idea is based on observations that the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) very likely serves as the binding site for SARS-CoV-2, the strain implicated in the current COVID-19 epidemic, similarly to strain SARS-CoV implicated in the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic. This commentary elaborates on the idea of considering AT1R blockers as tentative treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infections, and proposes a research direction based on datamining of clinical patient records for assessing its feasibility.
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Huashi Baidu formula (HSBDF) was developed to treat the patients with severe COVID-19 in China. The purpose of this study was to explore its active compounds and demonstrate its mechanisms against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) through network pharmacology and molecular docking. ⋯ Baicalein and quercetin in HSBDF may regulate multiple signaling pathways through ACE2, which might play a therapeutic role on COVID-19.
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The aim of this study was to promote the rapid identification of the contacts of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and therefore the control of the pandemic. Different methodologies and recommendations on contact tracing for Primary Health Care (PHC) and Public Health Services (PHS), like articles in Pubmed about COVID-19 and contact tracing, official contact definitions, the classic contact tracing model in tuberculosis (TB), information about apps for contact tracing and the role of the diagnostic tests, were reviewed. ⋯ The classic contact tracing model in TB can be applied to this new infection, but accelerating the process given its acute nature and its potential severity. Good coordination between PHC and PHS and having sufficient resources is essential.