Articles: sars-cov-2.
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Observational Study
Maternal and neonatal outcomes of COVID-19 in a high-risk pregnant cohort with and without HIV.
The impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women living with HIV (PLHIV) has not been described previously. ⋯ In this cohort of high-risk pregnant women, the impact of COVID-19 was severe, significantly increasing maternal mortality risk compared with baseline rates. Virally suppressed HIV infection was not associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes in pregnancy.
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To prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, many countries instituted lockdown measures. As the virus was initially slow to spread to rural areas in South Africa, Mopani district in Limpopo Province did not experience a high incidence of COVID-19 until the second wave in December 2020. Until then, lockdown measures were more likely than SARS-CoV-2 infections to have an adverse impact on health services. ⋯ Declines were recorded for most indicators in Mopani, with HC being affected the most at the start of the first wave and not showing any significant recovery between waves. Strategies are required to mitigate the effects of future COVID-19 waves and encourage positive health-seeking behaviour.
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Transmission of COVID-19 through close contact and droplets is well established, but the influence of aerosol and surface contamination remains to be determined. Literature is scarce and inconsistent about the viable virus particles free-distance from infected patients, as well as about different swabbing methods for surface contamination evaluation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the most sensitive method for the assessment of surface contamination, classify the likelihood of environmental contamination in risk zones and compare the environmental contamination between oxygenation and ventilatory support. ⋯ Our findings support the use of the sterile premoistened swab without preservation medium, the classification of risk areas considering the distance from the patient, and the variability of RNA dispersion between oxygenation and ventilatory support.
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This study estimates the risk of aerosol infection by SARS-CoV-2 in indoor environments where high density of occupation results in an increased probability of infection, such as schools, offices, supermarkets, restaurants and gyms. ⋯ The present study contributes to the identification of measures that decrease the risk of viral transmission, and consequently provide greater security in indoor spaces.