Articles: sars-cov-2.
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Frontiers in immunology · Jan 2020
ReviewTargeting GM-CSF in COVID-19 Pneumonia: Rationale and Strategies.
COVID-19 is a clinical syndrome ranging from mild symptoms to severe pneumonia that often leads to respiratory failure, need for mechanical ventilation, and death. Most of the lung damage is driven by a surge in inflammatory cytokines [interleukin-6, interferon-γ, and granulocyte-monocyte stimulating factor (GM-CSF)]. Blunting this hyperinflammation with immunomodulation may lead to clinical improvement. ⋯ Prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trials are ongoing. Anti-GM-CSF monoclonal antibodies, TJ003234 and gimsilumab, will be tested in clinical trials in patients with COVID-19, while lenzilumab received FDA approval for compassionate use. These trials will help inform whether blunting the inflammatory signaling provided by the GM-CSF axis in COVID-19 is beneficial.
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Frontiers in medicine · Jan 2020
COVID-19 Infection Among Healthcare Workers: Serological Findings Supporting Routine Testing.
A growing body of evidence demonstrates that asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is a major contributor to the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontline healthcare workers in COVID-19 hotspots have faced numerous challenges, including shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and difficulties acquiring clinical testing. The magnitude of the exposure of healthcare workers and the potential for asymptomatic transmission makes it critical to understand the incidence of infection in this population. ⋯ These results indicate that there is considerable asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2 within the healthcare workforce, despite current mitigation policies. Furthermore, presuming that asymptomatic staff are not carrying SARS-CoV-2 is inconsistent with our results, and this could result in amplified transmission within healthcare settings. Consequently, aggressive testing regiments, such as testing frontline healthcare workers on a regular, multi-modal basis, may be required to prevent further spread within the workforce and to patients.
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Observational Study
Characterisation of 22445 patients attending UK emergency departments with suspected COVID-19 infection: Observational cohort study.
Hospital emergency departments play a crucial role in the initial assessment and management of suspected COVID-19 infection. This needs to be guided by studies of people presenting with suspected COVID-19, including those admitted and discharged, and those who do not ultimately have COVID-19 confirmed. We aimed to characterise patients attending emergency departments with suspected COVID-19, including subgroups based on sex, ethnicity and COVID-19 test results. ⋯ ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN56149622, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN28342533.
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Frontiers in pediatrics · Jan 2020
ReviewSalient Conclusive Remarks on Epidemiology and Clinical Manifestations of Pediatric COVID-19: Narrative Review.
The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, which is caused by the novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), constituted significant public health concerns and impacted the human populations with massive economic and social burdens worldwide. The disease is known to infect people of all ages, including children, adults, and the elderly. Although several reports about pediatric COVID-19 were seen in the literature, we believe that the epidemiology and pathology of the infection described in these reports are not conclusive. ⋯ As documented in many studies, the infectivity, morbidity, and mortality rates of the disease among the children populations are much lower than those in adults. They also seem to be lower than those observed during SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV epidemics. The described clinical phenotypes of COVID-19 in children do not differ much from those of adults, and complications of the disease seem to be associated with comorbidities.
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Urologia internationalis · Jan 2020
Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 in Semen of Patients in the Acute Stage of COVID-19 Infection.
The presence of new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in semen and the possibility of sexual transmission have become new subjects of curiosity. There is a discrepancy regarding this issue in the literature. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 in semen has been investigated in a limited number of studies, and mostly in recovering patients. We aimed to investigate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in semen of patients with a positive nasopharyngeal swab test for SARS-CoV-2 in the acute stage. ⋯ Although all semen samples were obtained in acute stage of the infection when the nasopharyngeal swab test was positive, we did not detect SARS-CoV-2 in semen. The results of our study support the thought that sexual transmission via semen does not have an important role in the person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2. We think that our study will provide new information to fill the gap in the literature.