This version of BIP! Finder aims to ease the exploration of COVID-19-related literature by enabling ranking articles based on various impact metrics.
Last Update: 18 - 01 - 2023 (628506 entries)
Popularity: Citation-based measure reflecting the current impact.
Influence: Citation-based measure reflecting the total impact.
Reader Attention: The current number of Mendeley readers.
Social Media Attention: The number of recent tweets related to this article.
*More details on these impact measures can be found here.
Exceptional score (in top 0.01%).
Substantial score (in top 1%).
Average score (in bottom 99%).
Score not available.
CORD-19 dataset(1) (list of papers)
LitCovid hub(2) (list of papers)
PMC & PubMed (citations)
Mendeley (number of readers)
COVID-19-TweetIDs(3) (tweets)
| Title | Venue | Year | Impact | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1501 | Mental Health Problems during the COVID-19 Pandemics and the Mitigation Effects of Exercise: A Longitudinal Study of College Students in China (1) Background: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global public health emergency that has caused worldwide concern. Vast resources have been allocated to control the pandemic and treat patients. However, little attention has been paid to the adverse impact on mental health or effective mitigation strategies to improve mental health. (2) Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the adverse impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Chinese college students’ mental health, understand the underlying mechanisms, and explore feasible mitigation strategies. (3) Methods: During the peak time of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, we conducted longitudinal surveys of sixty-six college students. Structured questionnaires collected information on demographics, physical activity, negative emotions, sleep quality, and aggressiveness level. A mixed-effect model was used to evaluate associations between variables, and the mediating effect of sleep quality was further explored. A generalized additive model was used to determine the dose-response relationships between the COVID-19 death count, physical activity, and negative emotions. (4) Results: The COVID-19 death count showed a direct negative impact on general sleep quality (β = 1.37, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.55, 2.19) and reduced aggressiveness (β = −6.57, 95% CI: −12.78, −0.36). In contrast, the COVID-19 death count imposed not a direct but an indirect impact on general negative emotions (indirect effect (IE) = 0.81, p = 0.012), stress (IE = 0.40, p < 0.001), and anxiety (IE = 0.27, p = 0.004) with sleep quality as a mediator. Moreover, physical activity directly alleviated general negative emotions (β = −0.12, 95% CI: −0.22, −0.01), and the maximal mitigation effect occurred when weekly physical activity was about 2500 METs. (5) Conclusions: (a) The severity of the COVID-19 outbreak has an indirect effect on negative emotions by affecting sleep quality. (b) A possible mitigation strategy for improving mental health includes taking suitable amounts of daily physical activity and sleeping well. (c) The COVID-19 outbreak has reduced people’s aggressiveness, probably by making people realize the fragility and preciousness of life. | Int J Environ Res Public Healt | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1502 | Topics, Trends and Sentiments of Tweets About the COVID-19 Pandemic: Temporal Infoveillance Study BACKGROUND: With restrictions on movement and stay-at-home orders in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social media platforms such as Twitter have become an outlet for users to express their concerns, opinions, and feelings about the pandemic. Individuals, health agencies, and governments are using Twitter to communicate about COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to examine key themes and topics of English-language COVID-19–related tweets posted by individuals and to explore the trends and variations in how the COVID-19–related tweets, key topics, and associated sentiments changed over a period of time from before to after the disease was declared a pandemic. METHODS: Building on the emergent stream of studies examining COVID-19–related tweets in English, we performed a temporal assessment covering the time period from January 1 to May 9, 2020, and examined variations in tweet topics and sentiment scores to uncover key trends. Combining data from two publicly available COVID-19 tweet data sets with those obtained in our own search, we compiled a data set of 13.9 million English-language COVID-19–related tweets posted by individuals. We use guided latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) to infer themes and topics underlying the tweets, and we used VADER (Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner) sentiment analysis to compute sentiment scores and examine weekly trends for 17 weeks. RESULTS: Topic modeling yielded 26 topics, which were grouped into 10 broader themes underlying the COVID-19–related tweets. Of the 13,937,906 examined tweets, 2,858,316 (20.51%) were about the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and markets, followed by spread and growth in cases (2,154,065, 15.45%), treatment and recovery (1,831,339, 13.14%), impact on the health care sector (1,588,499, 11.40%), and governments response (1,559,591, 11.19%). Average compound sentiment scores were found to be negative throughout the examined time period for the topics of spread and growth of cases, symptoms, racism, source of the outbreak, and political impact of COVID-19. In contrast, we saw a reversal of sentiments from negative to positive for prevention, impact on the economy and markets, government response, impact on the health care industry, and treatment and recovery. CONCLUSIONS: Identification of dominant themes, topics, sentiments, and changing trends in tweets about the COVID-19 pandemic can help governments, health care agencies, and policy makers frame appropriate responses to prevent and control the spread of the pandemic. | J Med Internet Res | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1503 | Case report study of the first five COVID-19 patients treated with remdesivir in France Abstract The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been identified as responsible for the COVID-19 outbreak worldwide. Data on treatment are scare and parallels are made between SARS-CoV-2 and other coronavirus. Remdesivir is a broad spectrum antiviral with efficient in vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2 and controversial evidence of clinical improvement in severe COVID-19 patients. We aimed to describe the clinical outcome and virological monitoring of the first five COVID-19 patients admitted in ICU for severe pneumonia related to SARS-CoV-2 and treated with remdesivir in the University hospital of Bichat, Paris, France. SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR in blood plasma, lower and upper respiratory tract were monitored. Among the five treated patients, two needed mechanical ventilation and one high flow cannula oxygen. A significant decrease in SARS-CoV-2 viral load from upper respiratory tract was observed in most cases but two died with active SARS-CoV-2 replication in the lower respiratory tract. Plasma samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 in only one patient. Remdesivir was interrupted for side effects among four patients, including 2 ALT elevations (3 to 5 N) and 2 renal failures requiring renal replacement. This case series of five COVID-19 patients requiring ICU for a respiratory distress and treated with remdesivir, highlights the complexity of remdesivir use in such critically ill patients. | Int J Infect Dis | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1504 | Behaviour change interventions for the management of Raynaud's phenomenon: a systematic review protocol N/A | BMJ Open | 2017 | CORD-19 | |
| 1505 | Abnormal immunity of non-survivors with COVID-19: predictors for mortality BACKGROUND: The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases has rapidly increased all over the world. Specific information about immunity in non-survivors with COVID-19 is scarce. This study aimed to analyse the clinical characteristics and abnormal immunity of the confirmed COVID-19 non-survivors. METHODS: In this single-centered, retrospective, observational study, we enrolled 125 patients with COVID-19 who were died between January 13 and March 4, 2020 in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University. A total of 414 randomly recruited patients with confirmed COVID-19 who were discharged from the same hospital during the same period served as control. The demographic, clinical characteristics and laboratory findings at admission, and treatment used in these patients were collected. The immunity-related risk factors associated with in-hospital death were tested by logistic regression models and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: Non-survivors (70 years, IQR: 61.5–80) were significantly older than survivors (54 years, IQR: 37–65) (P < 0.001). 56.8% of non-survivors was male. Nearly half of the patients (44.9%) had chronic medical illness. In non-survivors, hypertension (49.6%) was the most common comorbidity, followed by diabetes (20.0%) and coronary heart disease (16.0%). The common signs and symptoms at admission of non-survivors were fever (88%), followed by cough (64.8%), dyspnea (62.4%), fatigue (62.4%) and chest tightness (58.4%). Compared with survivors, non-survivors had higher white blood cell (WBC) count (7.85 vs 5.07 × 10(9)/L), more elevated neutrophil count (6.41 vs 3.08 × 10(9)/L), smaller lymphocyte count (0.69 vs 1.20 × 10(9)/L) and lower platelet count (172 vs 211 × 10(9)/L), raised concentrations of procalcitonin (0.21 vs 0.06 ng/mL) and CRP (70.5 vs 7.2 mg/L) (P < 0.001). This was accompanied with significantly decreased levels of CD3(+) T cells (277 vs 814 cells/μl), CD4(+) T cells (172 vs 473 cells/μl), CD8(+) T cells (84 vs 262.5 cells/μl, P < 0.001), CD19(+) T cells (88 vs 141 cells/μl) and CD16(+) 56(+) T cells (79 vs 128.5 cells/μl) (P < 0.001). The concentrations of immunoglobulins (Ig) G (13.30 vs 11.95 g/L), IgA (2.54 vs 2.21 g/L), and IgE (71.30 vs 42.25 IU/ml) were increased, whereas the levels of complement proteins (C)3 (0.89 vs 0.99 g/L) and C4 (0.22 vs 0.24 g/L) were decreased in non-survivors when compared with survivors (all P < 0.05). The non-survivors presented lower levels of oximetry saturation (90 vs 97%) at rest and lactate (2.40 vs 1.90 mmol/L) (P < 0.001). Old age, comorbidity of malignant tumor, neutrophilia, lymphocytopenia, low CD4(+) T cells, decreased C3, and low oximetry saturation were the risk factors of death in patients with confirmed COVID-19. The frequency of CD4(+) T cells positively correlated with the numbers of lymphocytes (r = 0.787) and the level of oximetry saturation (r = 0.295), Whereas CD4(+) T cells were negatively correlated with age (r =-0.323) and the numbers of neutrophils (r = − 0.244) (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal cellular immunity and humoral immunity were key features of non-survivors with COVID-19. Neutrophilia, lymphocytopenia, low CD4(+) T cells, and decreased C3 were immunity-related risk factors predicting mortality of patients with COVID-19. | Infect Dis Poverty | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1506 | Quarantine alone or in combination with other public health measures to control COVID-19: a rapid review BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is a rapidly emerging disease classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). To support the WHO with their recommendations on quarantine, we conducted a rapid review on the effectiveness of quarantine during severe coronavirus outbreaks. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of quarantine (alone or in combination with other measures) of individuals who had contact with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID‐19, who travelled from countries with a declared outbreak, or who live in regions with high disease transmission. SEARCH METHODS: An information specialist searched the Cochrane COVID‐19 Study Register, and updated the search in PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, WHO Global Index Medicus, Embase, and CINAHL on 23 June 2020. SELECTION CRITERIA: Cohort studies, case‐control studies, time series, interrupted time series, case series, and mathematical modelling studies that assessed the effect of any type of quarantine to control COVID‐19. We also included studies on SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) as indirect evidence for the current coronavirus outbreak. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently screened abstracts and titles in duplicate. Two review authors then independently screened all potentially relevant full‐text publications. One review author extracted data, assessed the risk of bias and assessed the certainty of evidence with GRADE and a second review author checked the assessment. We used three different tools to assess risk of bias, depending on the study design: ROBINS‐I for non‐randomised studies of interventions, a tool provided by Cochrane Childhood Cancer for non‐randomised, non‐controlled studies, and recommendations from the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) for modelling studies. We rated the certainty of evidence for the four primary outcomes: incidence, onward transmission, mortality, and costs. MAIN RESULTS: We included 51 studies; 4 observational studies and 28 modelling studies on COVID‐19, one observational and one modelling study on MERS, three observational and 11 modelling studies on SARS, and three modelling studies on SARS and other infectious diseases. Because of the diverse methods of measurement and analysis across the outcomes of interest, we could not conduct a meta‐analysis and undertook a narrative synthesis. We judged risk of bias to be moderate for 2/3 non‐randomized studies of interventions (NRSIs) and serious for 1/3 NRSI. We rated risk of bias moderate for 4/5 non‐controlled cohort studies, and serious for 1/5. We rated modelling studies as having no concerns for 13 studies, moderate concerns for 17 studies and major concerns for 13 studies. Quarantine for individuals who were in contact with a confirmed/suspected COVID‐19 case in comparison to no quarantine Modelling studies consistently reported a benefit of the simulated quarantine measures, for example, quarantine of people exposed to confirmed or suspected cases may have averted 44% to 96% of incident cases and 31% to 76% of deaths compared to no measures based on different scenarios (incident cases: 6 modelling studies on COVID‐19, 1 on SARS; mortality: 2 modelling studies on COVID‐19, 1 on SARS, low‐certainty evidence). Studies also indicated that there may be a reduction in the basic reproduction number ranging from 37% to 88% due to the implementation of quarantine (5 modelling studies on COVID‐19, low‐certainty evidence). Very low‐certainty evidence suggests that the earlier quarantine measures are implemented, the greater the cost savings may be (2 modelling studies on SARS). Quarantine in combination with other measures to contain COVID‐19 in comparison to other measures without quarantine or no measures When the models combined quarantine with other prevention and control measures, such as school closures, travel restrictions and social distancing, the models demonstrated that there may be a larger effect on the reduction of new cases, transmissions and deaths than measures without quarantine or no interventions (incident cases: 9 modelling studies on COVID‐19; onward transmission: 5 modelling studies on COVID‐19; mortality: 5 modelling studies on COVID‐19, low‐certainty evidence). Studies on SARS and MERS were consistent with findings from the studies on COVID‐19. Quarantine for individuals travelling from a country with a declared COVID‐19 outbreak compared to no quarantine Very low‐certainty evidence indicated that the effect of quarantine of travellers from a country with a declared outbreak on reducing incidence and deaths may be small for SARS, but might be larger for COVID‐19 (2 observational studies on COVID‐19 and 2 observational studies on SARS). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The current evidence is limited because most studies on COVID‐19 are mathematical modelling studies that make different assumptions on important model parameters. Findings consistently indicate that quarantine is important in reducing incidence and mortality during the COVID‐19 pandemic, although there is uncertainty over the magnitude of the effect. Early implementation of quarantine and combining quarantine with other public health measures is important to ensure effectiveness. In order to maintain the best possible balance of measures, decision makers must constantly monitor the outbreak and the impact of the measures implemented. This review was originally commissioned by the WHO and supported by Danube‐University‐Krems. The update was self‐initiated by the review authors. | Cochrane Database Syst Rev | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1507 | Nonpharmaceutical interventions for tackling the COVID-19 epidemic in Brazil N/A | Epidemiol Serv Saude | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1508 | Psychosocial burden of healthcare professionals in times of COVID-19-a survey conducted at the University Hospital Augsburg Objective: The outbreak of COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the WHO in March 2020. Studies from China, where the virus first spread, have reported increased psychological strain in healthcare professionals. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychosocial burden of physicians and nurses depending on their degree of contact with COVID-19 patients. In addition, we explored which supportive resources they used and which supportive needs they experienced during the crisis. Methods: Data were collected between March and April 2020 at the University Hospital Augsburg. A total of 75 nurses and 35 physicians, working either in a special COVID-19 ward or in a regular ward, took part in the survey. The participants filled in two standardized questionnaires (the Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ; and the Maslach Burnout Inventory, MBI), and reported their fear of a COVID-19 infection and stress at work on a 10-point Likert scale. Finally, they answered three open-ended questions about causes of burden, supportive resources and needs during the crisis. Results: Nurses working in the COVID-19 wards reported higher levels of stress, exhaustion, and depressive mood, as well as lower levels of work-related fulfilment compared to their colleagues in the regular wards. Physicians reported similar scores independent of their contact with COVID-19 patients. The most common causes for burden were job strain and uncertainty about the future. Psychosocial support as well as leisure time were listed as important resources, and a better infrastructure adjustment to COVID-19 at the hospital (e.g. sufficient staff, keeping teams and working schedules stable) as suggestion for improvement. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that especially nurses working in COVID-19 wards are affected psychologically by the consequences of the pandemic. This might be due to a higher workload and longer time in direct contact with COVID-19 patients, compared to physicians. | Ger Med Sci | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1509 | ECMO for COVID-19 induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Multicenter Descriptive Study N/A | Crit Care Med | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1510 | Interaction of the spike protein RBD from SARS-CoV-2 with ACE2: Similarity with SARS-CoV, hot-spot analysis and effect of the receptor polymorphism The spread of COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has been growing since its first identification in December 2019. The publishing of the first SARS-CoV-2 genome made a valuable source of data to study the details about its phylogeny, evolution, and interaction with the host. Protein-protein binding assays have confirmed that Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is more likely to be the cell receptor through which the virus invades the host cell. In the present work, we provide an insight into the interaction of the viral spike Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) from different coronavirus isolates with host ACE2 protein. By calculating the binding energy score between RBD and ACE2, we highlighted the putative jump in the affinity from a progenitor form of SARS-CoV-2 to the current virus responsible for COVID-19 outbreak. Our result was consistent with previously reported phylogenetic analysis and corroborates the opinion that the interface segment of the spike protein RBD might be acquired by SARS-CoV-2 via a complex evolutionary process rather than a progressive accumulation of mutations. We also highlighted the relevance of Q493 and P499 amino acid residues of SARS-CoV-2 RBD for binding to human ACE2 and maintaining the stability of the interface. Moreover, we show from the structural analysis that it is unlikely for the interface residues to be the result of genetic engineering. Finally, we studied the impact of eight different variants located at the interaction surface of ACE2, on the complex formation with SARS-CoV-2 RBD. We found that none of them is likely to disrupt the interaction with the viral RBD of SARS-CoV-2. | Biochem Biophys Res Commun | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1511 | Tracking the evolution of the SARS coronavirus using high-throughput, high-density resequencing arrays N/A | Genome Res | 2004 | CORD-19 | |
| 1512 | Efficacy and safety of aerosolized intra-tracheal dornase alfa administration in patients with SARS-CoV-2 induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS): a structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial OBJECTIVES: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may trigger severe pneumonia in coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) patients through release of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and recruitment of neutrophils in the lungs. Activated neutrophils induce inflammation and severe alveolar injury by releasing neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). The backbones of many DAMPs and NETs are made of extracellular, cell-free DNA decorated with highly toxic compounds such as elastase, myeloperoxidase and citrullinated histones. Dornase alfa is a FDA-approved recombinant human DNAse 1 for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, which cleaves extracellular DNA and may break up cell-free DNA, loosening sticky mucus in the distal airways and reducing NETs-induced toxicity on alveolar pneumocytes. The COVIDornase trial intends to define the impact of aerosolized intra-tracheal dornase alfa administration on the severity and progression of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients. This drug might make lung mucus thinner and looser, promoting improved clearance of secretions and reduce extracellular double-stranded DNA-induced hyperinflammation in alveoli, preventing further damage to the lungs. TRIAL DESIGN: COVIDornase is a prospective, randomized, controlled, 2-arm (1:1 ratio), multicentric, open-label clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: The study will recruit mechanically ventilated patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) in the recruiting centres (at the time of writing: The Rothschild foundation hospital in Paris, the Strasbourg university hospitals, and Metz-Thionville hospital) who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and meet ARDS criteria. INCLUSION CRITERIA: - Adult patient (age ≥ 18 years old); - Hospitalized in ICU; - With severe COVID-19 pneumonia and ARDS according to Berlin criteria (PaO(2)/FiO(2) < 300 and PEEP > 5 cmH(2)O); - Intubated for less than 8 days; - With an anticipated duration of mechanical ventilation > 48 hours; - Carrier of an arterial catheter; - For whom 4 PaO(2)/FiO(2) values over the preceding 24 hours are available; NON-INCLUSION CRITERIA: - Known hypersensitivity to dornase alfa or any of its excipients; - Pregnant or breastfeeding status; - Patient under legal protection. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: Intervention 1, Study group Dornase alfa (Pulmozyme®, Roche, Switzerland) will be administered by aerosol, at a dose of 2500 IU twice daily, 12 hours apart, for 7 consecutive days, using a vibrating mesh nebulizer (Aerogen Solo®, Aerogen, Ireland). The remainder of the management will be performed in accordance with good clinical practice, including mechanical ventilation (protective ventilation, PEEP > 5 cmH(2)O, tracheal balloon pressure check every 4 hours or automatic device, 30° head of the bed elevation, tidal volume 6-8mL/kg, plateau pressure < 30 cmH(2)O), neuromuscular blockers if necessary, prone position if PaO(2)/FiO(2) < 150, early enteral nutrition, glycemic control and a sedation protocol based on the RASS score. Intervention 2, Comparator Patients will receive usual care in accordance with good practice (as detailed above), without aerosols. MAIN OUTCOMES: The primary outcome is the occurrence of at least one grade improvement between D(0) (inclusion) and D(7) in the ARDS scale severity (Berlin criteria). For instance from “severe” to “moderate” or from “moderate” to “mild”. RANDOMISATION: All consecutive patients meeting the inclusion criteria will be randomised 1:1 using an eCRF-based, computer-generated randomisation table, either to the dornase alfa arm or to the control arm. An interim analysis will be performed after inclusion of 20 patients. Inclusions may be stopped at the interim analysis per data safety and monitoring board (DSMB) advice, if statistical analyses conclude on the futility or efficacy of the intervention or by other DSMB decision. BLINDING (MASKING): The participants and caregivers will not be blinded to study group assignment. Those assessing the outcomes will be blinded to study group assignment. NUMBERS TO BE RANDOMISED (SAMPLE SIZE): Fifty patients will be randomized to each group, 100 patients in total. TRIAL STATUS: Protocol version number 2, April 29(th), 2020. Recruitment is ongoing. The trial started recruitment on the 21(st) April 2020. We estimate recruitment will finish August 21(st) 2020. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov on 21 April 2020, updated on 8 May 2020. Trial registration number is NCT04355364. FULL PROTOCOL: The full protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated. This Letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol. | Trials | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1513 | Global Health Security Demands a Strong International Health Regulations Treaty and Leadership From a Highly Resourced World Health Organization N/A | Disaster Med Public Health Pre | 2015 | CORD-19 | |
| 1514 | Acute Care Surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain: Changes in volume, causes and complications. A multicenter retrospective cohort study BACKGROUND: during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Acute Care Surgery procedures performed in Spanish hospitals decreased significantly. The aim of this study was to compare Acute Care Surgery activity during the COVID-19 pandemic and during a control period. MATERIAL AND METHODS: a multicenter retrospective cohort study was performed including patients who underwent Acute Care Surgery in three tertiary care hospitals in Spain during a control (11(th) March 2019 to 21(st) April 2019) and a pandemic (16(th) March 2020 to 26(th) April 2020) period. Type of surgical procedures, patients´ features and postoperative complications were compared. RESULTS: two hundred and eighty-five and 117 patients were included in each group. Mean number of patients who underwent Acute Care Surgery during the control and pandemic periods was 2.3 and 0.9 patients per day and hospital (p<0.001), representing a 58.9% decrease in Acute Care Surgery activity. Time from symptoms onset to patient arrival at the Emergency Department was longer during the pandemic (44.6 vs. 71.0 hours, p<0.001). Surgeries due to acute cholecystitis and complications from previous elective procedures decreased (26.7% vs. 9.4%) during the pandemic, while bowel obstructions and abdominal wall hernia surgeries increased (12.3% vs. 22.2%) (p=0.001). Morbidity was higher during pandemic period (34.7% vs. 47.1%, p=0.022), although this difference was not statistically significant in the multivariate analysis. Reoperation rate (17.9% vs. 12.8%, p=0.212) and mortality (6.7% vs. 4.3%, p=0.358) were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: during the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant reduction in the performance of Acute Care Surgery procedures was observed. Moreso, a longer time from symptoms onset to patient arrival at the Emergency Department was noted. Higher morbidity was observed in patients undergoing Acute Care Surgery during the pandemic period, although there was not any difference in mortality or reoperation rate. | Int J Surg | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1515 | Understanding the Community Risk Perceptions of the COVID-19 Outbreak in South Korea: Infodemiology Study BACKGROUND: South Korea is among the best-performing countries in tackling the coronavirus pandemic by using mass drive-through testing, face mask use, and extensive social distancing. However, understanding the patterns of risk perception could also facilitate effective risk communication to minimize the impacts of disease spread during this crisis. OBJECTIVE: We attempt to explore patterns of community health risk perceptions of COVID-19 in South Korea using internet search data. METHODS: Google Trends (GT) and NAVER relative search volumes (RSVs) data were collected using COVID-19–related terms in the Korean language and were retrieved according to time, gender, age groups, types of device, and location. Online queries were compared to the number of daily new COVID-19 cases and tests reported in the Kaggle open-access data set for the time period of December 5, 2019, to May 31, 2020. Time-lag correlations calculated by Spearman rank correlation coefficients were employed to assess whether correlations between new COVID-19 cases and internet searches were affected by time. We also constructed a prediction model of new COVID-19 cases using the number of COVID-19 cases, tests, and GT and NAVER RSVs in lag periods (of 1-3 days). Single and multiple regressions were employed using backward elimination and a variance inflation factor of <5. RESULTS: The numbers of COVID-19–related queries in South Korea increased during local events including local transmission, approval of coronavirus test kits, implementation of coronavirus drive-through tests, a face mask shortage, and a widespread campaign for social distancing as well as during international events such as the announcement of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization. Online queries were also stronger in women (r=0.763-0.823; P<.001) and age groups ≤29 years (r=0.726-0.821; P<.001), 30-44 years (r=0.701-0.826; P<.001), and ≥50 years (r=0.706-0.725; P<.001). In terms of spatial distribution, internet search data were higher in affected areas. Moreover, greater correlations were found in mobile searches (r=0.704-0.804; P<.001) compared to those of desktop searches (r=0.705-0.717; P<.001), indicating changing behaviors in searching for online health information during the outbreak. These varied internet searches related to COVID-19 represented community health risk perceptions. In addition, as a country with a high number of coronavirus tests, results showed that adults perceived coronavirus test–related information as being more important than disease-related knowledge. Meanwhile, younger, and older age groups had different perceptions. Moreover, NAVER RSVs can potentially be used for health risk perception assessments and disease predictions. Adding COVID-19–related searches provided by NAVER could increase the performance of the model compared to that of the COVID-19 case–based model and potentially be used to predict epidemic curves. CONCLUSIONS: The use of both GT and NAVER RSVs to explore patterns of community health risk perceptions could be beneficial for targeting risk communication from several perspectives, including time, population characteristics, and location. | J Med Internet Res | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1516 | Automated SARS-COV-2 RNA extraction from patient nasopharyngeal samples using a modified DNA extraction kit for high throughput testing BACKGROUND: The pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) has prompted a need for mass testing to identify patients with viral infection. The high demand has created a global bottleneck in testing capacity, which prompted us to modify available resources to extract viral RNA and perform reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to detect SARS-COV-2. OBJECTIVES: Report on the use of a DNA extraction kit, after modifications, to extract viral RNA that could then be detected using an FDA-approved SARS-COV-2 RT-qPCR assay. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Initially, automated RNA extraction was performed using a modified DNA kit on samples from control subjects, a bacteriophage, and an RNA virus. We then verified the automated extraction using the modified kit to detect in-lab propagated SARSCOV-2 titrations using an FDA approved commercial kit (S, N, and ORF1b genes) and an in-house primer-probe based assay (E, RdRp2 and RdRp4 genes). RESULTS: Automated RNA extraction on serial dilutions SARS-COV-2 achieved successful one-step RT-qPCR detection down to 60 copies using the commercial kit assay and less than 30 copies using the in-house primer-probe assay. Moreover, RT-qPCR detection was successful after automated RNA extraction using this modified protocol on 12 patient samples of SARS-COV-2 collected by nasopharyngeal swabs and stored in viral transport media. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated the capacity of a modified DNA extraction kit for automated viral RNA extraction and detection using a platform that is suitable for mass testing. LIMITATIONS: Small patient sample size. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None. | Ann Saudi Med | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1517 | We've got through hard times before: acute mental distress and coping among disadvantaged groups during COVID-19 lockdown in North India-a qualitative study BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 crisis in India negatively impacted mental health due to both the disease and the harsh lockdown, yet there are almost no qualitative studies describing mental health impacts or the strategies of resilience used, and in particular, no reports from the most vulnerable groups. This study aimed to examine the acute mental health impacts of the COVID-19 crisis as well as coping strategies employed by disadvantaged community members in North India. METHODS: We used an intersectional lens for this qualitative study set in rural Tehri Garwhal and urban Dehradun districts of Uttarakhand, India. In-depth interviews were conducted in May 2020 during lockdown, by phone and in person using purposive selection, with people with disabilities, people living in slums with psychosocial disabilities and widows (total n = 24). We used the framework method for analysis following steps of transcription and translation, familiarisation, coding, developing and then applying a framework, charting and then interpreting data. FINDINGS: The participants with compounded disadvantage had almost no access to mobile phones, health messaging or health care and experienced extreme mental distress and despair, alongside hunger and loss of income. Under the realms of intrapersonal, interpersonal and social, six themes related to mental distress emerged: feeling overwhelmed and bewildered, feeling distressed and despairing, feeling socially isolated, increased events of othering and discrimination, and experiencing intersectional disadvantage. The six themes summarising coping strategies in the COVID-19 crisis were: finding sense and meaning, connecting with others, looking for positive ways forward, innovating with new practices, supporting others individually and collectively, and engaging with the natural world. CONCLUSIONS: People intersectionally disadvantaged by their social identity experienced high levels of mental distress during the COVID-19 crisis, yet did not collapse, and instead described diverse and innovative strategies which enabled them to cope through the COVID-19 lockdown. This study illustrates that research using an intersectional lens is valuable to design equitable policy such as the need for access to digital resources, and that disaggregated data is needed to address social inequities at the intersection of poverty, disability, caste, religious discrimination and gender inherent in the COVID-19 pandemic in India. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12939-020-01345-7. | Int J Equity Health | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1518 | Stigma during the COVID-19 pandemic | Lancet Infect Dis | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1519 | Emergence of a Novel Coronavirus: Protocol for Extending Surveillance Used by the Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre and Public Health England BACKGROUND: The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) and Public Health England (PHE) have successfully worked together on the surveillance of influenza and other infectious diseases for over 50 years, including three previous pandemics. With the emergence of the international outbreak of the coronavirus infection (COVID-19), a UK national approach to containment has been established to test people suspected of exposure to COVID-19. At the same time and separately, the RCGP RSC’s surveillance has been extended to monitor the temporal and geographical distribution of COVID-19 infection in the community as well as assess the effectiveness of the containment strategy. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study are to surveil COVID-19 in both asymptomatic populations and ambulatory cases with respiratory infections, ascertain both the rate and pattern of COVID-19 spread, and assess the effectiveness of the containment policy. METHODS: The RCGP RSC, a network of over 500 general practices in England, extract pseudonymized data weekly. This extended surveillance comprises of five components: (1) Recording in medical records of anyone suspected to have or who has been exposed to COVID-19. Computerized medical records suppliers have within a week of request created new codes to support this. (2) Extension of current virological surveillance and testing people with influenza-like illness or lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI)—with the caveat that people suspected to have or who have been exposed to COVID-19 should be referred to the national containment pathway and not seen in primary care. (3) Serology sample collection across all age groups. This will be an extra blood sample taken from people who are attending their general practice for a scheduled blood test. The 100 general practices currently undertaking annual influenza virology surveillance will be involved in the extended virological and serological surveillance. (4) Collecting convalescent serum samples. (5) Data curation. We have the opportunity to escalate the data extraction to twice weekly if needed. Swabs and sera will be analyzed in PHE reference laboratories. RESULTS: General practice clinical system providers have introduced an emergency new set of clinical codes to support COVID-19 surveillance. Additionally, practices participating in current virology surveillance are now taking samples for COVID-19 surveillance from low-risk patients presenting with LRTIs. Within the first 2 weeks of setup of this surveillance, we have identified 3 cases: 1 through the new coding system, the other 2 through the extended virology sampling. CONCLUSIONS: We have rapidly converted the established national RCGP RSC influenza surveillance system into one that can test the effectiveness of the COVID-19 containment policy. The extended surveillance has already seen the use of new codes with 3 cases reported. Rapid sharing of this protocol should enable scientific critique and shared learning. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/18606 | JMIR Public Health Surveill | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1520 | Putative hAPN receptor binding sites in SARS_CoV spike protein N/A | Acta Pharmacol Sin | 2003 | CORD-19 | |
| 1521 | Evolving epidemiology and transmission dynamics of COVID-19 outside Hubei province, China: a descriptive and modelling study BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began in Wuhan city, Hubei province, in December, 2019, and has spread throughout China. Understanding the evolving epidemiology and transmission dynamics of the outbreak beyond Hubei would provide timely information to guide intervention policy. METHODS: We collected individual information from official public sources on laboratory-confirmed cases reported outside Hubei in mainland China for the period of Jan 19 to Feb 17, 2020. We used the date of the fourth revision of the case definition (Jan 27) to divide the epidemic into two time periods (Dec 24 to Jan 27, and Jan 28 to Feb 17) as the date of symptom onset. We estimated trends in the demographic characteristics of cases and key time-to-event intervals. We used a Bayesian approach to estimate the dynamics of the net reproduction number (R(t)) at the provincial level. FINDINGS: We collected data on 8579 cases from 30 provinces. The median age of cases was 44 years (33–56), with an increasing proportion of cases in younger age groups and in elderly people (ie, aged >64 years) as the epidemic progressed. The mean time from symptom onset to hospital admission decreased from 4·4 days (95% CI 0·0–14·0) for the period of Dec 24 to Jan 27, to 2·6 days (0·0–9·0) for the period of Jan 28 to Feb 17. The mean incubation period for the entire period was estimated at 5·2 days (1·8–12·4) and the mean serial interval at 5·1 days (1·3–11·6). The epidemic dynamics in provinces outside Hubei were highly variable but consistently included a mixture of case importations and local transmission. We estimated that the epidemic was self-sustained for less than 3 weeks, with mean Rt reaching peaks between 1·08 (95% CI 0·74–1·54) in Shenzhen city of Guangdong province and 1·71 (1·32–2·17) in Shandong province. In all the locations for which we had sufficient data coverage of Rt, Rt was estimated to be below the epidemic threshold (ie, <1) after Jan 30. INTERPRETATION: Our estimates of the incubation period and serial interval were similar, suggesting an early peak of infectiousness, with possible transmission before the onset of symptoms. Our results also indicate that, as the epidemic progressed, infectious individuals were isolated more quickly, thus shortening the window of transmission in the community. Overall, our findings indicate that strict containment measures, movement restrictions, and increased awareness of the population might have contributed to interrupt local transmission of SARS-CoV-2 outside Hubei province. FUNDING: National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and European Commission Horizon 2020. | Lancet Infect Dis | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1522 | Challenges to the system of reserve medical supplies for public health emergencies: reflections on the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in China N/A | Biosci Trends | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1523 | Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 in the female reproductive tract of COVID-19 patients: A prospective study N/A | J Biol Regul Homeost Agents | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1524 | Effect of Chloroquine, Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin on the Corrected QT Interval in Patients With SARS-CoV-2 Infection The novel SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) is responsible for the global coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Small studies have shown a potential benefit of chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine±azithromycin for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019. Use of these medications alone, or in combination, can lead to a prolongation of the QT interval, possibly increasing the risk of Torsade de pointes and sudden cardiac death. METHODS: Hospitalized patients treated with chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine±azithromycin from March 1 to the 23 at 3 hospitals within the Northwell Health system were included in this prospective, observational study. Serial assessments of the QT interval were performed. The primary outcome was QT prolongation resulting in Torsade de pointes. Secondary outcomes included QT prolongation, the need to prematurely discontinue any of the medications due to QT prolongation, and arrhythmogenic death. RESULTS: Two hundred one patients were treated for coronavirus disease 2019 with chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine. Ten patients (5.0%) received chloroquine, 191 (95.0%) received hydroxychloroquine, and 119 (59.2%) also received azithromycin. The primary outcome of torsade de pointes was not observed in the entire population. Baseline corrected QT interval intervals did not differ between patients treated with chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine (monotherapy group) versus those treated with combination group (chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin; 440.6±24.9 versus 439.9±24.7 ms, P=0.834). The maximum corrected QT interval during treatment was significantly longer in the combination group versus the monotherapy group (470.4±45.0 ms versus 453.3±37.0 ms, P=0.004). Seven patients (3.5%) required discontinuation of these medications due to corrected QT interval prolongation. No arrhythmogenic deaths were reported. CONCLUSIONS: In the largest reported cohort of coronavirus disease 2019 patients to date treated with chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine±azithromycin, no instances of Torsade de pointes, or arrhythmogenic death were reported. Although use of these medications resulted in QT prolongation, clinicians seldomly needed to discontinue therapy. Further study of the need for QT interval monitoring is needed before final recommendations can be made. VISUAL OVERVIEW: A visual overview is available for this article. | Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1525 | Effectiveness of behavioral change techniques employed in eHealth interventions designed to improve glycemic control in persons with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol N/A | Syst Rev | 2017 | CORD-19 | |
| 1526 | Patients with mental health disorders in the COVID-19 epidemic | Lancet Psychiatry | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1527 | Analysis on the SARS-CoV genome of PUMC01 isolate N/A | Zhongguo Yi Xue Ke Xue Yuan Xu | 2003 | CORD-19 | |
| 1528 | Comorbidity and clinical factors associated with COVID-19 critical illness and mortality at a large public hospital in New York City in the early phase of the pandemic (March-April 2020) BACKGROUND: Despite evidence of socio-demographic disparities in outcomes of COVID-19, little is known about characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients admitted to public hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak. OBJECTIVE: To assess demographics, comorbid conditions, and clinical factors associated with critical illness and mortality among patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at a public hospital in New York City (NYC) during the first month of the COVID-19 outbreak. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 admitted to NYC Health + Hospitals / Bellevue Hospital from March 9(th) to April 8(th), 2020. RESULTS: A total of 337 patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the study period. Primary analyses were conducted among those requiring supplemental oxygen (n = 270); half of these patients (135) were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). A majority were male (67.4%) and the median age was 58 years. Approximately one-third (32.6%) of hypoxic patients managed outside the ICU required non-rebreather or non-invasive ventilation. Requirement of renal replacement therapy occurred in 42.3% of ICU patients without baseline end-stage renal disease. Overall, 30-day mortality among hypoxic patients was 28.9% (53.3% in the ICU, 4.4% outside the ICU). In adjusted analyses, risk factors associated with mortality included dementia (adjusted risk ratio (aRR) 2.11 95%CI 1.50–2.96), age 65 or older (aRR 1.97, 95%CI 1.31–2.95), obesity (aRR 1.37, 95%CI 1.07–1.74), and male sex (aRR 1.32, 95%CI 1.04–1.70). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 demonstrated severe morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Modifications in care delivery outside the ICU allowed the hospital to effectively care for a surge of critically ill and severely hypoxic patients. | PLoS One | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1529 | Intensive care management of COVID-19: challenges and recommendations Summary 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. ICU practitioners, hospital administrators, governments, and policy makers must prepare for a substantial increase in critical care bed capacity, with a focus not just on infrastructure and supplies, but also on staff management. Critical care triage to allow the rationing of scarce ICU resources might be needed. Researchers must address unanswered questions, including the role of repurposed and experimental therapies. Collaboration at the local, regional, national, and international level offers the best chance of survival for the critically ill. | Lancet Respir Med | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1530 | Self-Reported Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis Use during COVID-19 Lockdown Measures: Results from a Web-Based Survey BACKGROUND: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has led to measures of social distancing and quarantine worldwide. This stressful period may lead to psychological problems, including increases in substance use. OBJECTIVE: To investigate changes in alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis consumption before and during COVID-19 lockdown and motives for these changes in substance use. METHOD: A web-based survey was filled out by an unselected population during the social distancing measures of the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium that assessed changes in alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis consumption in the period before and during the COVID-19 lockdown and also asked about reasons for change. RESULTS: A total of 3,632 respondents (mean age 42.1 ± 14.6 years; 70% female) filled out the survey. Overall, respondents reported consuming more alcohol (d = 0.21) and smoking more cigarettes (d = 0.13) than before the COVID-19 pandemic (both p < 0.001), while no significant changes in the consumption of cannabis were noted. The odds of consuming more alcohol during the lockdown were associated with younger age (OR = 0.981, p < 0.001), more children at home (OR = 1.220, p < 0.001), non-healthcare workers (p < 0.001), and being technically unemployed related to COVID-19 (p = 0.037). The odds of smoking more cigarettes during the lockdown were associated with younger age (OR = 0.988, p = 0.027), current living situation (p < 0.001), lower education (p = 0.015), and working situation related to COVID-19 (p = 0.018). Boredom, lack of social contacts, loss of daily structure, reward after a hard-working day, loneliness, and conviviality were the main reasons for consuming more of the various substances. CONCLUSIONS: During the lockdown, individuals consumed slightly more alcohol and smoked marginally more cigarettes compared to the period before the lockdown. Further research focussing on follow-up of individuals at risk may be useful to provide appropriate care in post-COVID times. | Eur Addict Res | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1531 | Physical distancing reduced the incidence of influenza and supports a favorable impact on SARS-CoV-2 spread in Mexico N/A | J Infect Dev Ctries | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1532 | SARS virus: The beginning of the unraveling of a new coronavirus Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus caused a severe outbreak in several regions of the world in 2003. The virus is a novel coronavirus, which may have an origin in wild animals such as civet cats in southern China. Its genome structure, gene expression pattern and protein profiles are similar to those of other coronaviruses. However, distinct patterns of several open reading frames in the SARS virus genome may contribute to its severe virulence. The potential mutability of the coronavirus genome may pose problems in the control of future SARS outbreaks. The mechanism of SARS pathogenesis may involve both direct viral cytocidal effects on the target cells and immune-mediated mechanisms. The life cycle of the SARS virus is largely unknown; however, based on the analogy with other coronaviruses, several potential targets for antiviral development are identified. Vaccines offer an important preventive measure for possible future recurrences of SARS, but the prospect for their development is still unknown because of the uncertainty regarding the role of immune responses in SARS virus pathogenesis. The comparative studies of other coronaviruses offer insights into the understanding of SARS virus. | J Biomed Sci | 2003 | CORD-19 | |
| 1533 | SARS-CoV-2 productively infects human gut enterocytes The virus severe acute respiratory syndrome–coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can cause coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an influenza-like disease that is primarily thought to infect the lungs with transmission via the respiratory route. However, clinical evidence suggests that the intestine may present another viral target organ. Indeed, the SARS-CoV-2 receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is highly expressed on differentiated enterocytes. In human small intestinal organoids (hSIOs), enterocytes were readily infected by SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 as demonstrated by confocal- and electron-microscopy. Consequently, significant titers of infectious viral particles were detected. mRNA expression analysis revealed strong induction of a generic viral response program. Hence, intestinal epithelium supports SARS-CoV-2 replication, and hSIOs serve as an experimental model for coronavirus infection and biology | Science | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1534 | A specific transmembrane domain of a coronavirus E1 glycoprotein is required for its retention in the Golgi region The E1 glycoprotein of the avian coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus contains a short, glycosylated amino-terminal domain, three membrane-spanning domains, and a long carboxy-terminal cytoplasmic domain. We show that E1 expressed from cDNA is targeted to the Golgi region, as it is in infected cells. E1 proteins with precise deletions of the first and second or the second and third membrane-spanning domains were glycosylated, thus suggesting that either the first or third transmembrane domain can function as an internal signal sequence. The mutant protein with only the first transmembrane domain accumulated intracellularly like the wild-type protein, but the mutant protein with only the third transmembrane domain was transported to the cell surface. This result suggests that information specifying accumulation in the Golgi region resides in the first transmembrane domain, and provides the first example of an intracellular membrane protein that is transported to the plasma membrane after deletion of a specific domain. | J Cell Biol | 1987 | CORD-19 | |
| 1535 | A Retrospective Controlled Cohort Study of the Impact of Glucocorticoid Treatment in SARS-CoV-2 Infection Mortality Evidence to support the use of steroids in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia is lacking. We aim to determine the impact of steroid use for COVID-19 pneumonia on hospital mortality. We performed a single-center retrospective cohort study in a university hospital in Madrid, Spain, during March of 2020. To determine the role of steroids in in-hospital mortality, patients admitted with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pneumonia and treated with steroids were compared to patients not treated with steroids, and we adjusted with a propensity score for patients on steroid treatment. Survival times were compared using the log rank test. Different steroid regimens were compared and adjusted with a second propensity score. During the study period, 463 out of 848 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia fulfilled inclusion criteria. Among them, 396 (46.7%) patients were treated with steroids and 67 patients were not. Global mortality was 15.1%. The median time to steroid treatment from symptom onset was 10 days (interquartile range [IQR], 8 to 13 days). In-hospital mortality was lower in patients treated with steroids than in controls (13.9% [55/396] versus 23.9% [16/67]; hazard ratio [HR], 0.51 [95% confidence interval, 0.27 to 0.96]; P = 0.044). Steroid treatment reduced mortality by 41.8% relative to the mortality with no steroid treatment (relative risk reduction, 0.42 [95% confidence interval, 0.048 to 0.65]). Initial treatment with 1 mg/kg of body weight/day of methylprednisolone versus steroid pulses was not associated with in-hospital mortality (13.5% [42/310] versus 15.1% [13/86]; odds ratio [OR], 0.880 [95% confidence interval, 0.449 to 1.726]; P = 0.710). Our results show that the survival of patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia is higher in patients treated with glucocorticoids than in those not treated. Rates of in-hospital mortality were not different between initial regimens of 1 mg/kg/day of methylprednisolone and glucocorticoid pulses. | Antimicrob Agents Chemother | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1536 | Emerging practice patterns in vascular surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic OBJECTIVE: Ever since the first positive test was identified on January 21, 2020, Washington State has been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on information obtained from Italian surgeons in Milan and given concerns regarding rising case numbers in Washington state, we implemented new vascular surgery guidelines, which canceled all non-emergent surgical procedures and involved significant changes to our inpatient and outpatient workflow. The consequences of these decisions are not yet understood. METHODS: The division of vascular surgery at Harborview Medical Center immediately instituted new vascular surgery COVID-19 practice guidelines on March 17, 2020. Subsequent clinic, operative, and consult volume was collected over the next 4 weeks and compared to historical averages. Washington state case/death numbers and UW Medicine hospital case volumes were collected from publicly available sources. RESULTS: Since March 10, 2020, the number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases within the UW Medicine system has increased 1867%, with floor and intensive care unit bed utilization increasing by 120% and 215%, respectively. After instituting our new COVID-19 guidelines, our average weekly clinical volume decreased by 96.5% (43.1 patients to 1.5 per week), our average weekly surgical volume decreased by 71.7% (from 15 cases to 4.25 per week), and our inpatient consultation volume decreased to 1.81 consults per day. 60% of consultations were completed as telemedicine “e-consults” in which the patient was never evaluated in-person. Trainee surgical volume has also decreased by 86.4% for the vascular surgery fellow and 84.8% for the integrated resident. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed every aspect of “normal” vascular surgical practice in a large academic institution. New practice guidelines effectively reduced operating room utilization and decreased staff and trainee exposure to potential infection, with changes to clinic volume not resulting in an immediate rise in emergency department/inpatient consultations or acute surgical emergencies. These changes, although preserving resources, are also reducing trainee exposure and operative volume significantly, which requires new modes of education delivery. Lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, if analyzed, will help us prepare for the next crisis. | J Vasc Surg | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1537 | Nervous system involvement after infection with COVID-19 and other coronaviruses Viral infections have detrimental impacts on neurological functions, and even to cause severe neurological damage. Very recently, coronaviruses (CoV), especially severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV 2 (SARS-CoV-2), exhibit neurotropic properties and may also cause neurological diseases. It is reported that CoV can be found in the brain or cerebrospinal fluid. The pathobiology of these neuroinvasive viruses is still incompletely known, and it is therefore important to explore the impact of CoV infections on the nervous system. Here, we review the research into neurological complications in CoV infections and the possible mechanisms of damage to the nervous system. | Brain Behav Immun | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1538 | Evaluation of the SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Response to the BNT162b2 Vaccine in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis IMPORTANCE: Patients undergoing hemodialysis have a high mortality rate associated with COVID-19, and this patient population often has a poor response to vaccinations. Randomized clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines included few patients with kidney disease; therefore, vaccine immunogenicity is uncertain in this population. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the SARS-CoV-2 antibody response in patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis following 1 vs 2 doses of BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccination compared with health care workers serving as controls and convalescent serum. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A prospective, single-center cohort study was conducted between February 2 and April 17, 2021, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Participants included 142 patients receiving in-center hemodialysis and 35 health care worker controls. EXPOSURES: BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) COVID-19 vaccine. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies to the spike protein (anti-spike), receptor binding domain (anti-RBD), and nucleocapsid protein (anti-NP). RESULTS: Among the 142 participants undergoing maintenance hemodialysis, 94 (66%) were men; median age was 72 (interquartile range, 62-79) years. SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies were measured in 66 patients receiving 1 vaccine dose following a public health policy change, 76 patients receiving 2 vaccine doses, and 35 health care workers receiving 2 vaccine doses. Detectable anti-NP suggestive of natural SARS-CoV-2 infection was detected in 15 of 142 (11%) patients at baseline, and only 3 patients had prior COVID-19 confirmed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction testing. Two additional patients contracted COVID-19 after receiving 2 doses of vaccine. In 66 patients receiving a single BNT162b2 dose, seroconversion occurred in 53 (80%) for anti-spike and 36 (55%) for anti-RBD by 28 days postdose, but a robust response, defined by reaching the median levels of antibodies in convalescent serum from COVID-19 survivors, was noted in only 15 patients (23%) for anti-spike and 4 (6%) for anti-RBD in convalescent serum from COVID-19 survivors. In patients receiving 2 doses of BNT162b2 vaccine, seroconversion occurred in 69 of 72 (96%) for anti-spike and 63 of 72 (88%) for anti-RBD by 2 weeks following the second dose and median convalescent serum levels were reached in 52 of 72 patients (72%) for anti-spike and 43 of 72 (60%) for anti-RBD. In contrast, all 35 health care workers exceeded the median level of anti-spike and anti-RBD found in convalescent serum 2 to 4 weeks after the second dose. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This study suggests poor immunogenicity 28 days following a single dose of BNT162b2 vaccine in the hemodialysis population, supporting adherence to recommended vaccination schedules and avoiding delay of the second dose in these at-risk individuals. | JAMA Netw Open | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1539 | Comparison of Mobile Health Technology Use for Self-Tracking Between Older Adults and the General Adult Population in Canada: Cross-Sectional Survey BACKGROUND: The burden of population aging and chronic conditions has been reported worldwide. Older adults, especially those with high needs, experience social isolation and have high rates of emergency visits and limited satisfaction with the care they receive. Mobile health (mHealth) technologies present opportunities to address these challenges. To date, limited information is available on Canadian older adults’ attitudes toward and use of mHealth technologies for self-tracking purposes—an area that is increasingly important and relevant during the COVID-19 era. OBJECTIVE: This study presents contributions to an underresearched area on older adults and mHealth technology use. The aim of this study was to compare older adults’ use of mHealth technologies to that of the general adult population in Canada and to investigate the factors that affect their use. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey on mHealth and digital self-tracking was conducted. A web-based questionnaire was administered to a national sample of 4109 Canadian residents who spoke either English or French. The survey instrument consisted of 3 sections assessing the following items: (1) demographic characteristics, health status, and comorbidities; (2) familiarity with and use of mHealth technologies (ie, mobile apps, consumer smart devices/wearables such as vital signs monitors, bathroom scales, fitness trackers, intelligent clothing); and (3) factors influencing the continued use of mHealth technologies. RESULTS: Significant differences were observed between the older adults and the general adult population in the use of smart technologies and internet (P<.001). Approximately 47.4% (323/682) of the older adults in the community reported using smartphones and 49.8% (340/682) indicated using digital tablets. Only 19.6% (91/463) of the older adults using smartphones/digital tablets reported downloading mobile apps, and 12.3% (47/383) of the older adults who heard of smart devices/wearables indicated using them. The majority of the mobile apps downloaded by older adults was health-related; interestingly, their use was sustained over a longer period of time (P=.007) by the older adults compared to that by the general population. Approximately 62.7% (428/682) of the older adults reported tracking their health measures, but the majority did so manually. Older adults with one or more chronic conditions were mostly nontrackers (odds ratio 0.439 and 0.431 for traditional trackers and digital trackers, respectively). No significant differences were observed between the older adults and the general adult population with regard to satisfaction with mHealth technologies and their intention to continue using them. CONCLUSIONS: Leveraging mHealth technologies in partnership with health care providers and sharing of health/well-being data with health care professionals and family members remain very limited. A culture shift in the provision of care to older adults is deemed necessary to keep up with the development of mHealth technologies and the changing demographics and expectations of patients and their caregivers. | JMIR Mhealth Uhealth | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1540 | An interferon-gamma-related cytokine storm in SARS patients Fourteen cytokines or chemokines were analyzed on 88 RT‐PCR‐confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients. IFN‐γ, IL‐18, TGF‐β, IL‐6, IP‐10, MCP‐1, MIG, and IL‐8, but not of TNF‐α, IL‐2, IL‐4, IL‐10, IL‐13, or TNFRI, were highly elevated in the acute phase sera of Taiwan SARS patients. IFN‐γ was significantly higher in the Ab(+) group than in the Ab(−) group. IFN‐γ, IL‐18, MCP‐1, MIG, and IP‐10 were already elevated at early days post fever onset. Furthermore, levels of IL‐18, IP‐10, MIG, and MCP‐1 were significantly higher in the death group than in the survival group. For the survival group, IFN‐γ and MCP‐1 were inversely associated with circulating lymphocytes count and monocytes count, but positively associated with circulating neutrophils count. It is concluded that an interferon‐γ‐related cytokine storm was induced post SARS coronavirus infection, and this cytokine storm might be involved in the immunopathological damage in SARS patients. J. Med. Virol. 75:185–194, 2005. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. | J Med Virol | 2004 | CORD-19 | |
| 1541 | Inborn errors of type I IFN immunity in patients with life-threatening COVID-19 Clinical outcome upon infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ranges from silent infection to lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We have found an enrichment in rare variants predicted to be loss-of-function (LOF) at the 13 human loci known to govern Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3)– and interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7)–dependent type I interferon (IFN) immunity to influenza virus in 659 patients with life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia relative to 534 subjects with asymptomatic or benign infection. By testing these and other rare variants at these 13 loci, we experimentally defined LOF variants underlying autosomal-recessive or autosomal-dominant deficiencies in 23 patients (3.5%) 17 to 77 years of age. We show that human fibroblasts with mutations affecting this circuit are vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2. Inborn errors of TLR3- and IRF7-dependent type I IFN immunity can underlie life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in patients with no prior severe infection. | Science | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1542 | Singapore COVID-19 Pandemic Response as a Successful Model Framework for Low-Resource Healthcare Settings in Africa? N/A | OMICS | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1543 | The mental health of medical workers in Wuhan, China dealing with the 2019 novel coronavirus | Lancet Psychiatry | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1544 | Perceived infection transmission routes, infection control practices, psychosocial changes and management of COVID-19 infected healthcare workers in a tertiary acute care hospital in Wuhan: a cross-sectional survey BACKGROUND: Many healthcare workers were infected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) early in the epidemic posing a big challenge for epidemic control. Hence, this study aims to explore perceived infection routes, influencing factors, psychosocial changes, and management procedures for COVID-19 infected healthcare workers. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, single hospital-based study. We recruited all 105 confirmed COVID-19 healthcare workers in the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from February 15 to 29, 2020. All participants completed a validated questionnaire. Electronic consent was obtained from all participants. Perceived causes of infection, infection prevention, control knowledge and behaviour, psychological changes, symptoms and treatment were measured. RESULTS: Finally, 103 professional staff with COVID-19 finished the questionnaire and was included (response rate: 98.1%). Of them, 87 cases (84.5%) thought they were infected in working environment in hospital, one (1.0%) thought their infection was due to the laboratory environment, and 5 (4.9%) thought they were infected in daily life or community environment. Swab of throat collection and physical examination were the procedures perceived as most likely causing their infection by nurses and doctors respectively. Forty-three (41.8%) thought their infection was related to protective equipment, utilization of common equipment (masks and gloves). The top three first symptoms displayed before diagnosis were fever (41.8%), lethargy (33.0%) and muscle aches (30.1%). After diagnosis, 88.3% staff experienced psychological stress or emotional changes during their isolation period, only 11.7% had almost no emotional changes. Arbidol (Umifenovir; an anti-influza drug; 69.2%) was the drug most commonly used to target infection in mild and moderate symptoms. CONCLUSION: The main perceived mode of transmission was not maintaining protection when working at a close distance and having intimate contact with infected cases. Positive psychological intervention is necessary. | Mil Med Res | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1545 | Real-Time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for SARS-associated Coronavirus A real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was developed to rapidly detect the severe acute respiratory syndrome–associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). The assay, based on multiple primer and probe sets located in different regions of the SARS-CoV genome, could discriminate SARS-CoV from other human and animal coronaviruses with a potential detection limit of <10 genomic copies per reaction. The real-time RT-PCR assay was more sensitive than a conventional RT-PCR assay or culture isolation and proved suitable to detect SARS-CoV in clinical specimens. Application of this assay will aid in diagnosing SARS-CoV infection. | Emerg Infect Dis | 2004 | CORD-19 | |
| 1546 | Ventilator induced lung injury N/A | N Engl J Med | 2013 | CORD-19 | |
| 1547 | Mental health consequences during the initial stage of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic in Spain The pandemic caused by Covid-19 has been an unprecedented social and health emergency worldwide. This is the first study in the scientific literature reporting the psychological impact of the Covid-19 outbreak in a sample of the Spanish population. A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey of 3480 people. The presence of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was evaluated with screening tests from 14 March. Sociodemographic and Covid-19-related data was collected. Additionally, spiritual well-being, loneliness, social support, discrimination and sense of belonging were assessed. Descriptive analyses were carried out and linear regression models compiled. The 18.7% of the sample revealed depressive, 21.6% anxiety and 15.8% PTSD symptoms. Being in the older age group, having economic stability and the belief that adequate information had been provided about the pandemic were negatively related to depression, anxiety and PTSD. However, female gender, previous diagnoses of mental health problems or neurological disorders, having symptoms associated with the virus, or those with a close relative infected were associated with greater symptomatology in all three variables. Predictive models revealed that the greatest protector for symptomatology was spiritual well-being, while loneliness was the strongest predictor of depression, anxiety and PTSD. The impact on our mental health caused by the pandemic and the measures adopted during the first weeks to deal with it are evident. In addition, it is possible to identify the need of greater psychological support in general and in certain particularly vulnerable groups. | Brain Behav Immun | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1548 | Inhibition of SARS-CoV replication by siRNA Serious outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), caused by the newly discovered coronavirus SARS-CoV, occurred between late 2002 and early 2003 and there is an urgent need for effective antiviral agents. RNA interference in animals and post-transcriptional gene silencing plants is mediated by small double-stranded RNA molecules named small interfering RNA (siRNA). Recently, siRNA-induced RNA interference(RNAi) may provide a new approach to therapy for pathogenic viruses, e.g. HIV and HCV. In this study, the silencing potential of seven synthetic siRNAs against SARS-CoV leader, TRS, 3′-UTR and Spike coding sequence have been applied to explore the possibility for prevention of SARS-CoV infection. We demonstrate that siRNAs directed against Spike sequences and the 3′-UTR can inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV in Vero-E6 cells, and holds out promise for the development of an effective antiviral agent against SARS-CoV. | Antiviral Res | 2004 | CORD-19 | |
| 1549 | COVID-19: current status and future perspectives Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) originated in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, Central China, and has spread quickly to 72 countries to date. COVID-19 is caused by a novel coronavirus, named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) [previously provisionally known as 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)]. At present, the newly identified SARS-CoV-2 has caused a large number of deaths with tens of thousands of confirmed cases worldwide, posing a serious threat to public health. However, there are no clinically approved vaccines or specific therapeutic drugs available for COVID-19. Intensive research on the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 is urgently needed to elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms and epidemiological characteristics and to identify potential drug targets, which will contribute to the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies. Hence, this review will focus on recent progress regarding the structure of SARS-CoV-2 and the characteristics of COVID-19, such as the aetiology, pathogenesis and epidemiological characteristics. | Int J Antimicrob Agents | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 1550 | Impact of the COVID-19 virus outbreak on movement and play behaviours of Canadian children and youth: a national survey BACKGROUND: Healthy childhood development is fostered through sufficient physical activity (PA; including time outdoors), limiting sedentary behaviours (SB), and adequate sleep; collectively known as movement behaviours. Though the COVID-19 virus outbreak has changed the daily lives of children and youth, it is unknown to what extent related restrictions may compromise the ability to play and meet movement behaviour recommendations. This secondary data analysis examined the immediate impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on movement and play behaviours in children and youth. METHODS: A national sample of Canadian parents (n = 1472) of children (5–11 years) or youth (12–17 years) (54% girls) completed an online survey that assessed immediate changes in child movement and play behaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak. Behaviours included PA and play, SB, and sleep. Family demographics and parental factors that may influence movement behaviours were assessed. Correlations between behaviours and demographic and parental factors were determined. For open-ended questions, word frequency distributions were reported. RESULTS: Only 4.8% (2.8% girls, 6.5% boys) of children and 0.6% (0.8% girls, 0.5% boys) of youth were meeting combined movement behaviour guidelines during COVID-19 restrictions. Children and youth had lower PA levels, less outside time, higher SB (including leisure screen time), and more sleep during the outbreak. Parental encouragement and support, parental engagement in PA, and family dog ownership were positively associated with healthy movement behaviours. Although families spent less time in PA and more time in SB, several parents reported adopting new hobbies or accessing new resources. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence of immediate collateral consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak, demonstrating an adverse impact on the movement and play behaviours of Canadian children and youth. These findings can guide efforts to preserve and promote child health during the COVID-19 outbreak and crisis recovery period, and to inform strategies to mitigate potential harm during future pandemics. | Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 |
(1) COVID-19 Open Research Dataset (CORD-19). 2020. Version 2022-06-02. Retrieved from https://ai2-semanticscholar-cord-19.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/historical_releases.html. Accessed 2022-06-05. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3715506
(2) Chen Q, Allot A, & Lu Z. (2020) Keep up with the latest coronavirus research, Nature 579:193 and Chen Q, Allot A, Lu Z. LitCovid: an open database of COVID-19 literature. Nucleic Acids Research. 2020. (version 2023-01-10)
(3) Currently tweets of June 23rd to June 29th 2022 have been considered.