Articles: sars-cov-2.
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JMIR research protocols · Oct 2021
The COVID-19 Study of Healthcare and Support Personnel (CHAMPS): Protocol for a Longitudinal Observational Study.
Early in the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was evident that health care workers, first responders, and other essential workers would face significant stress and workplace demands related to equipment shortages and rapidly growing infections in the general population. Although the effects of other sources of stress on health have been documented, the effects of these unique conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic on the long-term health and well-being of the health care workforce are not known. ⋯ The CHAMPS Study and Registry will enable the acquisition of detailed data on the effects of extended psychosocial and workplace stress on morbidity and mortality and serve as a platform for ancillary studies related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern pose a challenge to the effectiveness of current vaccines. A vaccine that could prevent infection caused by known and future variants of concern as well as infection with pre-emergent sarbecoviruses (i.e., those with potential to cause disease in humans in the future) would be ideal. ⋯ The antibodies are high-level and broad-spectrum, capable of neutralizing not only known variants of concern but also sarbecoviruses that have been identified in bats and pangolins and that have the potential to cause human infection. These findings show the feasibility of a pan-sarbecovirus vaccine strategy. (Funded by the Singapore National Research Foundation and National Medical Research Council.).
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Background and Objectives: The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to search individual, sociodemographic and environmental predictors of COVID-19 outcomes. Materials and Methods: A convenience sample of 1036 COVID-19 confirmed patients (3-99 years, mean 59 years; 482 females) who sought treatment at the emergency units of the public health system of Diadema (Brazil; March-October 2020) was included. Primary data were collected from medical records: sex, age, occupation/education, onset of symptoms, presence of chronic diseases/treatment and outcome (death and non-death). ⋯ Principal component analysis summarized secondary sociodemographic data, and a Poisson regression model showed that the time between symptom onset and health system admission was higher for younger people and those from the least advantaged regions (availability of electricity, a sewage network, a water supply and garbage collection). A multiple logistic regression model showed an association of age (OR = 1.08; 1.05-1.1), diabetes (OR = 1.9; 1.1-3.4) and obesity (OR = 2.9; 1.1-7.6) with death outcome, while hypertension and sex showed no significant association. Conclusion: The identification of vulnerable groups may help the development of health strategies for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
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Novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a global pandemic with worldwide 6-digit infection rates and thousands of death tolls daily. Enormous efforts are undertaken to achieve high coverage of immunization to reach herd immunity in order to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection. ⋯ The statistical prevalence of these side effects seems to correlate with this particular vaccine type, i.e., adenoviral vector-based vaccines, but the exact molecular mechanisms are still not clear. The present review summarizes current data and hypotheses for molecular and cellular mechanisms into one integrated hypothesis indicating that coagulopathies, including thromboses, thrombocytopenia, and other related side effects, are correlated to an interplay of the two components in the vaccine, i.e., the spike antigen and the adenoviral vector, with the innate and immune systems, which under certain circumstances can imitate the picture of a limited COVID-19 pathological picture.
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The evidence base for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is nascent. We sought to characterize SARS-CoV-2 transmission within US households and estimate the household secondary infection rate (SIR) to inform strategies to reduce transmission. ⋯ We found substantial evidence of secondary infections among household contacts. People with COVID-19, particularly those with immunocompromising conditions or those with household contacts with diabetes, should take care to promptly self-isolate to prevent household transmission.