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Zhongshan Guidance of COVID-19 Prevention and Control
11 Apr, 2020Zhongshan Guidance of COVID-19 Prevention and Control
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First-wave COVID-19 transmissibility and severity in China outside Hubei after control measures, and second-wave scenario planning: a modelling impact assessment
10 Apr, 2020
Background
As of March 18, 2020, 13 415 confirmed cases and 120 deaths related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in mainland China, outside Hubei province—the epicentre of the outbreak—had been reported. Since late January, massive public health interventions have been implemented nationwide to contain the outbreak. We provide an impact assessment of the transmissibility and severity of COVID-19 during the first wave in mainland Chinese locations outside Hubei.
Methods<... -
PCR Assays Turned Positive in 25 Discharged COVID-19 Patients
10 Apr, 2020
We report the observation that 14.5% of COVID-19 patients had positive RT-PCR testing again after discharge. We describe correlations between laboratory parameters and treatment duration (r= -0.637; p=0.002) and time to virus recrudescence (r= 0.52; p=0.008) respectively, suggesting the need for additional measures to confirm illness resolution in COVID-19 patients.
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Loss of smell and taste in combination with other symptoms is a strong predictor of COVID-19 infection
9 Apr, 2020AbstractImportance: A strategy for preventing further spread of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic is to detect infections and isolate infected individuals without the need of extensive bio-specimen testing. Objectives: Here we investigate the prevalence of loss of smell and taste among COVID-19 diagnosed individuals and we identify the combination of symptoms, besides loss of smell and taste, most likely to correspond to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis in non-severe cases. Design: Community survey.... -
Effective containment explains subexponential growth in recent confirmed COVID-19 cases in China
9 Apr, 2020AbstractThe recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Mainland China was characterized by a distinctive subexponential increase of confirmed cases during the early phase of the epidemic, contrasting an initial exponential growth expected for an unconstrained outbreak. We show that this effect can be explained as a direct consequence of containment policies that effectively deplete the susceptible population. To this end, we introduce a parsimonious model that captures both, quarantine of symptomatic inf... -
Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks
8 Apr, 2020AbstractWe identified seasonal human coronaviruses, influenza viruses and rhinoviruses in exhaled breath and coughs of children and adults with acute respiratory illness. Surgical face masks significantly reduced detection of influenza virus RNA in respiratory droplets and coronavirus RNA in aerosols, with a trend toward reduced detection of coronavirus RNA in respiratory droplets. Our results indicate that surgical face masks could prevent transmission of human coronaviruses and influenza vi... -
Intensive care management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): challenges and recommendations
8 Apr, 2020
As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads across the world, the intensive care unit (ICU) community must prepare for the challenges associated with this pandemic. Streamlining of workflows for rapid diagnosis and isolation, clinical management, and infection prevention will matter not only to patients with COVID-19, but also to health-care workers and other patients who are at risk from nosocomial transmission. Management of acute respiratory failure and haemodynamics is key.... -
An orally bioavailable broad-spectrum antiviral inhibits SARS-CoV-2 in human airway epithelial cell cultures and multiple coronaviruses in mice
8 Apr, 2020Coronaviruses (CoVs) traffic frequently between species resulting in novel disease outbreaks, most recently exemplified by the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Herein, it is shown that the ribonucleoside analog β-D-N4-hydroxycytidine (NHC, EIDD-1931) has broad spectrum antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, and related zoonotic group 2b or 2c Bat-CoVs, as well as increased potency against a coronavirus bearing resistance mutations to the nucleosid... -
Cancer guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic
7 Apr, 2020As of April 1, 2020, more than 800 000 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had been confirmed worldwide. The death toll in Italy is approaching 12 000 people, with Spain not far behind. The USA has reported more than 164 000 cases of the disease, including more than 38 000 cases in New York City alone. There are concerns that the COVID-19 could overwhelm health-care systems worldwide. Many nations have reported a shortage of ventilators.The UK is one of several countries to have susp... -
Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients undergoing surgeries during the incubation period of COVID-19 infection
7 Apr, 2020ABSTRACT
Background: The outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China, has spread rapidly worldwide. In the early stage, we encountered a small but meaningful number of patients who were unintentionally scheduled for elective surgeries during the incubation period of COVID-19. We intended to describe their clinical characteristics and outcomes. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 34 patients underwent elective surgeries during the incubatio... -
COVID-19: On average only 6% of actual SARS-CoV-2 infections detected worldwide
7 Apr, 2020
Actual number of infections may already have reached several tens of millions.
Summary:
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus disease officially issued by countries dramatically understates the true number of infections, a report suggests. Researchers used estimates of COVID-19 mortality and time until death from a recent study to test the quality of records. This shows that countries have only discovered on average about 6% of infections. The number of infections... -
Virological assessment of hospitalized patients with COVID-2019: infectious virus is not isolated in blood and stool
6 Apr, 2020There is an urgent need for information on body site-specific virus replication, immunity, and infectivity. Here you can find a detailed virological analysis of nine cases, providing proof of active virus replication in upper respiratory tract tissues. Pharyngeal virus shedding was very high during the first week of symptoms (peak at 7.11 × 108 RNA copies per throat swab, day 4). Infectious virus was readily isolated from throat- and lung-derived samples, but not from stool samples, in spite ...