Articles: sars-cov-2.
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The current COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all the healthcare sectors all over the world. The WHO and various other health organizations have been issuing recommendations and guidelines for surgical practice and patient management during the current pandemic. ⋯ Surgical practices cannot remain suspended forever as it will have a deleterious effect on surgeons and patients. Therefore we need novel guidelines so that the surgeons can resume their general surgical practice as soon as possible.
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At present, neither specific curative treatment nor vaccines for novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) are available. There is an urgent need to look for alternative strategies for COVID-19 treatment especially in the case of severe and/or critically ill patients with cytokine release syndrome (CRS). ⋯ Our experience indicates that convalescent plasma therapy is well tolerated and could potentially improve clinical outcomes. Optimal dose and timing as well as precise assessment of clinical benefit of convalescent plasma therapy will need further investigation in larger, well-controlled trials. This is the first report of the successful use of convalescent plasma in the treatment of critically ill patients with COVID-19 infection in Hungary. Orv Hetil. 2020; 161(27): 1111-1121.
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The Journal of infection · Jul 2020
The role of community-wide wearing of face mask for control of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic due to SARS-CoV-2.
Face mask usage by the healthy population in the community to reduce risk of transmission of respiratory viruses remains controversial. We assessed the effect of community-wide mask usage to control coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). ⋯ Community-wide mask wearing may contribute to the control of COVID-19 by reducing the amount of emission of infected saliva and respiratory droplets from individuals with subclinical or mild COVID-19.
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J. Heart Lung Transplant. · Jul 2020
EditorialEthical considerations regarding heart and lung transplantation and mechanical circulatory support during the COVID-19 pandemic: an ISHLT COVID-19 Task Force statement.
To understand the challenges for thoracic transplantation and mechanical circulatory support during the current coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, we propose separating the effects of the pandemic into 5 distinct stages from a healthcare system perspective. We discuss how the classical ethical principles of utility, justice, and efficiency may need to be adapted, and we give specific recommendations for thoracic transplantation and mechanical circulatory support centers to balance their clinical decisions and strategies for advanced heart and lung disease during the current pandemic.