Articles: sars-cov-2.
-
Comparative Study
A retrospective study of the initial chest CT imaging findings in 50 COVID-19 patients stratified by gender and age.
To retrospectively analyze and stratify the initial clinical features and chest CT imaging findings of patients with COVID-19 by gender and age. ⋯ COVID-19 has various clinical and imaging appearances. However, it has certain characteristics that can be stratified. CT plays an important role in disease diagnosis and early intervention.
-
Frontiers in pediatrics · Jan 2020
Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Among Pediatric Healthcare Workers in Spain.
Spain is one of the countries most severely affected by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, with almost 190,000 cases as of April 18, 2020. As healthcare workers (HCW) are one of the groups hardest hit by the infection, it is important to know the seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in pediatric departments. We performed 175 immunoglobulin (Ig)M and IgG immunochromatographic rapid tests in the personnel working at the Pediatric Department of the Hospital Clínico Universitario of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), including pediatricians, residents, nurses, and other staff, on days 31-33 since the lockdown started. ⋯ This is the first SARS-CoV-2 serological survey among HCWs reported in Spain. Notwithstanding the test limitations, our results reveal that personal protection policy and lockdown measures have been effective to limit population exposure. The low seroprevalence rate poses a significant challenge for the next strategic steps of pandemic control.
-
Frontiers in psychology · Jan 2020
COVID-19: Presumed Infection Routes and Psychological Impact on Staff in Administrative and Logistics Departments in a Designated Hospital in Wuhan, China.
Objective: Our aim was to explore the presumed infection routes and psychological impact of COVID-19 on staff in administrative and logistics departments (ALDs). Methods: We gathered data from all 18 staff members with COVID-19 in ALDs in Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, China. The baseline, job before diagnosis, presumed infection environment, use of protective equipment, and psychological status before and after diagnosis were collected and analyzed. ⋯ There was no significant difference in psychological impact among the three groups, but uninfected staff members were fully aware of the seriousness of the epidemic. Conclusions: Effective protective measures should be taken for staff members in ALDs. Psychological interventions are very important to help infected staff members in ALDs cope with psychological distress.
-
Front Public Health · Jan 2020
Economic Consequences of the COVID-19 Outbreak: the Need for Epidemic Preparedness.
COVID-19 is not only a global pandemic and public health crisis; it has also severely affected the global economy and financial markets. Significant reductions in income, a rise in unemployment, and disruptions in the transportation, service, and manufacturing industries are among the consequences of the disease mitigation measures that have been implemented in many countries. It has become clear that most governments in the world underestimated the risks of rapid COVID-19 spread and were mostly reactive in their crisis response. As disease outbreaks are not likely to disappear in the near future, proactive international actions are required to not only save lives but also protect economic prosperity.
-
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) consists of a severe involvement of the lower respiratory tract leading to an acute respiratory syndrome. But there exist other infectious respiratory syndromes that have the same initial respiratory symptoms, show similar pattern in the size of the antigenic proteins and release comparable cytokines pathways, but with an unlike response magnitude. Here we propose that COVID-19 disease wrong response in the host immune system can be explained in the perspective of the antigen viral size. ⋯ The sustained infected cells lysis overfeeds high levels of viral proteins < 70 kDa, increases B-cell activation and, in the shift from a Th1 to a Th2 immune response, can trigger a cytokine storm. The continuous BCR activation increases IL-10 release that can lead to cytokine storm, apoptosis, and immune paralysis. Here, we propose a new vaccine design using the polymerization of viral antigens that could be ready in short time, would be cheap and easy to develop because it is based on classic technologies available in every country, is safe because it does not employ genetic material, and would able to promote long-lasting B-cell immune memory and IgG2a production.