Articles: sars-cov-2.
-
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to challenge the health workforce and societies worldwide. Favipiravir was suggested by some experts to be effective and safe to use in COVID-19. Although this drug has been evaluated in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), it is still unclear if it has a definite role in the treatment of COVID-19. ⋯ The low- to very low-certainty evidence means that we do not know whether favipiravir is efficacious in people with COVID-19 illness, irrespective of severity or admission status. Treatment with favipiravir may result in an overall increase in the incidence of adverse events but may not result in serious adverse events.
-
The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly affected all mass gatherings for sporting and religious events, causing cancellation, postponement, or downsizing. On March 24, 2020, the Japanese Government, the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the International Olympic Committee decided to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games until the summer of 2021. With the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the potential creation of a superspreading event that would overwhelm the Tokyo health system was perceived as a risk. ⋯ In February and March, 2022, Beijing hosted the 2022 Winter Olympic Games as scheduled, built on the lessons learnt from the Tokyo Games, and developed specific COVID-19 countermeasure plans in the context of China's national framework for the plan called Zero COVID. Results from the testing programmes at both the Tokyo and Beijing Games show that the measures put in place were effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19 within the Games, and ensured that neither event became a COVID-19-spreading event. The extensive experience from the Tokyo and Beijing Olympic Games highlights that it is possible to organise mass gatherings during a pandemic, provided that appropriate risk assessment, risk mitigation, and risk communication arrangements are in place, leaving legacies for future mass gatherings, public health, epidemic preparedness, and wider pandemic response.
-
During the past 3 years of the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, COVID-19 has been recognized to cause various neurological complications, including rare posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). In previously reported cases of PRES associated with COVID-19, the majority of patients had severe COVID-19 infection and known predisposing factors for PRES, such as uncontrolled hypertension, renal dysfunction, and use of immunosuppressants. It remains unclear whether these risk factors or infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) contributes to the development of PRES in these patients. Here we report a special case of PRES associated with COVID-19 without any known risk factors for PRES, indicating the SARS-CoV-2's direct role in the pathogenesis of PRES associated with COVID-19. ⋯ The current case had no classical risk factors for PRES, indicating that although the cause of PRES in COVID-19 patients may be multifactorial, the infection of SARS-CoV-2 may play a direct role in the pathogenesis of PRES associated with COVID-19.
-
Patients recovering from SARS-CoV-2 infection and acute COVID-19 illness can experience a range of long-term post-acute effects. The potential clinical and economic burden of these outcomes in the USA is unclear. We evaluated diagnoses, medications, healthcare utilization, and medical costs before and after acute COVID-19 illness in US patients who were not at high risk of severe COVID-19. ⋯ As evidenced by resource use in the post-acute phase, COVID-19 places a significant long-term clinical and economic burden among US individuals, even among patients whose acute infection did not merit hospitalization.
-
Studies demonstrate that people who have been infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, have experienced cognitive dysfunction, including working memory impairment, executive dysfunction, and decreased concentration. This review aimed to explore the incidence of working memory impairment and possible concomitant symptoms in the acute phase (< 3 months) and chronic phase (> 6 months) of COVID-19. ⋯ COVID-19 can cause a decline in working memory ability, accompanied by neurological symptoms. However, there is a lack of studies to identify the structural and functional changes in specific brain regions that relate to the impaired working memory.