Articles: sars-cov-2.
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Real-time surveillance of COVID-19 in large-scale community outbreaks presents challenges. Simple counts of the daily confirmed cases can be misleading due to constraints from bottlenecks in access to care or laboratory testing. This study aimed to investigate the role of the SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid diagnostic test (Ag-RDT) in addressing these challenges for real-time COVID-19 surveillance. ⋯ The positive rate of SARS-CoV-2 Ag-RDT tests at community testing stations serves as a good surrogate for assessing virus activity within the community and a useful tool for real-time COVID-19 surveillance. It is a robust indicator of the outbreak trend and near-term numbers of cases. This finding may facilitate the management of subsequent outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases.
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Post-acute sequelae of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease (COVID-19), called as long COVID syndrome, is a major global public health issue after recovery from COVID-19. The disease occurs in symptomatic patients irrespective of illness severity. The symptoms continue after four wk of recovery from acute illness and persist beyond three months. ⋯ Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 and early use of oral antiviral nirmatrelvir within the first five days in patients with acute mild disease having various risk factors for progression to severe disease help in preventing long COVID. Several clinical trials are underway for the treatment of long COVID and the results of these are eagerly awaited. Physical and mental rehabilitation at home, at community level or in the hospital setting as appropriate is essential in patients with long COVID.
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Background & objectives Genetic analysis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) strains circulating in India during 2020-2022 was carried out to understand the evolution of potentially expanding and divergent clades. Methods SARS-CoV-2 sequences (n=612) randomly selected from among the sequences of samples collected through a nationwide network of Virus Research Diagnostic Laboratories during 2020 (n=1532) and Indian sequences available in Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data during March 2020-March 2022 (n=53077), were analyzed using the phylo-geo haplotype network approach with reference to the Wuhan prototype sequence. Results On haplotype analysis, 420 haplotypes were revealed from 643 segregating sites among the sequences. ⋯ Interpretation & conclusions The haplotype analysis revealed that the G and GR clades were co-evolved and an epicentrefor the evolution of the GH, GK and GRA clades. GH was more frequently identified in northern parts of India than in other parts, whereas GK was detected less in north India than in other parts. Thus, the network analysis facilitated a detailed illustration of the pathways of evolution and circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variants.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The efficacy and safety of ginger (Zingiber officinale) rhizome extract in outpatients with COVID-19: A randomized double-blind placebo-control clinical trial.
Ginger, a potent antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant remedy, is a potential therapeutic option for COVID-19. However, there was not enough clinical evidence about ginger and COVID-19. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of ginger on clinical and paraclinical features in outpatients with COVID-19. ⋯ Ginger had no significant impact on the clinical and paraclinical parameters of patients. However, this intervention demonstrated a safe profile of adverse events and reduced pulmonary infiltrate.