Articles: sars-cov-2.
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Sars-CoV-2 complications include pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which require intensive care unit admission. These conditions have rapidly overwhelmed healthcare systems, with detrimental effects on the quality of care and increased mortality. ⋯ Particularly, since pneumonia and ARDS are associated with a cytokine storm, drugs belonging to therapeutic classes as anti-IL-6, anti-TNF, and JAK inhibitors are currently studied. In this article, we discuss the potential advantages of the most promising pharmacological approaches.
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Coronavirus disease 2019, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. ⋯ This case highlights our patient's clinical course, including diagnostic work-up, medical management, and challenges in defining non-infectivity in a relatively unknown disease.
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At the present time, COVID-19 is spreading rapidly [1]. The global prevention and control of COVID-19 is focused on the estimation of the relevant incubation period, basic reproduction number (R0), effective reproduction number (Rt) and death risk. Although the prevention and control of COVID-19 requires a reliable estimation of the relevant incubation period, R0, Rt and death risk. ⋯ So far, people have not paid enough attention to asymptomatic carriers. The asymptomatic carriers discussed in this study are recessive infections, that is, those who have never shown symptoms after onset of infection. We will discuss three aspects: detection, infectivity and proportion of healthy carriers.
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The recent exponential increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in Italy led to the adoption of specific extraordinary measures, such as the need to convey treatment of all non-deferrable cancer patients to specialized centres (hubs). We reported a comprehensive summary of guidelines to create and run an oncologic hub during the COVID-19 pandemic. Oncologic hubs must fulfil some specific requirements such as a high experience in oncologic patient treatment, strict strategies applied to remain a "COVID-19-free" centre, and the creation of a dedicated multidisciplinary "hub team". ⋯ Lastly, hospital staff must be highly trained for both preventing COVID-19 contagion and treating patients who develop the infection. We provided a simplified, but complete and easily applicable guide. We believe that this guide could help those clinicians who have to treat oncologic patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic evolves, more complications associated with the disease come to surface. Thus far, there is limited information available on the etiology, clinical outcomes, and management options for cardiovascular complications caused by COVID-19. This review focuses on literature published in year 2020 on the virus-induced cardiovascular damage with intention to better understand pathophysiology of this process, its impact on clinical outcomes, and available therapies. Literature review shows that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) acts through angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) receptors and causes cardiac injury by direct damage to the cardiomyocytes, systemic inflammation, fibrosis, interferon and cytokine-mediated immune response, coronary plaque destabilization, and hypoxia. ⋯ Monitoring hospitalized COVID-19 patients with high sensitivity troponin can help screen for severe complications and detect them early. Use of multiple investigational drugs with uncertain cardiac safety profiles in COVID-19 patients requires continuous cardiac monitoring. Notch signaling pathway therapy along with anti-viral agents, interleukin-6 inhibitors, and convalescent serum are possible treatment options to better control the inflammatory state that drives the cardiac damage.