Articles: sars-cov-2.
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Public health and diagnostic laboratories are facing huge sample loads for COVID-19 diagnosis by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). High sensitivity of optimized real-time RT-PCR assays makes pooled testing a potentially efficient strategy for resource utilization when positivity rates for particular regions or groups of individuals are low. We report here a comparative analysis of pooled testing for 5- and 10-sample pools by real-time RT-PCR across 10 COVID-19 testing laboratories in India. ⋯ Results from this multi-site assessment suggest that pooling five samples for SARS-CoV-2 detection by real-time RT-PCR may be an acceptable strategy without much loss of sensitivity even for low viral loads, while with 10-sample pools, there may be considerably higher numbers of false negatives. However, testing laboratories should perform validations with the specific RNA extraction and RT-PCR kits in use at their centres before initiating pooled testing.
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In December 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began in China and spread rapidly worldwide. It is unknown whether hemodialysis patients represent a distinct group of patients with certain characteristics that may make them susceptible to infection or severe disease. In this case report, we describe the clinical and epidemiologic features of COVID-19 infection in 201 maintenance hemodialysis patients in Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, including 5 maintenance hemodialysis patients who contracted COVID-19 infection. ⋯ Lymphopenia occurred in all patients. Computed tomography of the chest showed ground glass opacity in the lungs of all patients. Up to February 13, 2020, none of the patients had developed severe complications (acute respiratory distress syndrome, shock, or multiple organ dysfunction) or died.
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Emerging Infect. Dis. · Jul 2020
Community Responses during Early Phase of COVID-19 Epidemic, Hong Kong.
During the early phase of the coronavirus disease epidemic in Hong Kong, 1,715 survey respondents reported high levels of perceived risk, mild anxiety, and adoption of personal-hygiene, travel-avoidance, and social-distancing measures. Widely adopted individual precautionary measures, coupled with early government actions, might slow transmission early in the outbreak.
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Acta Neurol. Scand. · Jul 2020
Neurological Manifestations of COVID-19: A systematic review and current update.
The novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first identified in December of 2019 in the city of Wuhan, China. Since the outbreak, various reports detail its symptoms and outcomes, primarily focusing on respiratory complications. ⋯ Less common symptoms include seizure, stroke and isolated cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome. Further research is now warranted to precisely determine the relationship between those patients developing neurological sequelae, their clinical state and any subsequent morbidity and mortality.
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Kidney international · Jul 2020
Observational StudyCOVID-19: clinical course and outcomes of 36 hemodialysis patients in Spain.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pneumonia emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Unfortunately, there is a lack of evidence about the optimal management of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and even less is available in patients on maintenance hemodialysis therapy than in the general population. In this retrospective, observational, single-center study, we analyzed the clinical course and outcomes of all maintenance hemodialysis patients hospitalized with COVID-19 from March 12th to April 10th, 2020 as confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. ⋯ Compared to survivors, nonsurvivors had significantly longer dialysis vintage, increased lactate dehydrogenase (490 U/l ± 120 U/l vs. 281 U/l ± 151 U/l, P = 0.008) and C-reactive protein levels (18.3 mg/dl ± 13.7 mg/dl vs. 8.1 mg/dl ± 8.1 mg/dl, P = 0.021), and a lower lymphocyte count (0.38 ×103/µl ± 0.14 ×103/µl vs. 0.76 ×103/µl ± 0.48 ×103/µl, P = 0.04) 1 week after clinical onset. Thus, the mortality among hospitalized hemodialysis patients diagnosed with COVID-19 is high. Certain laboratory tests can be used to predict a worsening clinical course.