| Title | Venue | Year | Impact | Source |
| 2801 | How to fight an infodemic | Lancet | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2802 | Assessment of 135 794 Pediatric Patients Tested for SARS-CoV-2 Across the United States N/A | JAMA Pediatr | 2021 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2803 | Surveillance for travel-related disease-GeoSentinel Surveillance System, United States, 1997-2011 N/A | MMWR Surveill Summ | 2013 | | CORD-19 |
| 2804 | ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression by clinical, HLA, immune and microbial correlates across 34 human cancers and matched normal tissues: implications for SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 BACKGROUND: Pandemic COVID-19 by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is facilitated by the ACE2 receptor and protease TMPRSS2. Modestly sized case series have described clinical factors associated with COVID-19, while ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression analyses have been described in some cell types. Patients with cancer may have worse outcomes to COVID-19. METHODS: We performed an integrated study of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 gene expression across and within organ systems, by normal versus tumor, across several existing databases (The Cancer Genome Atlas, Census of Immune Single Cell Expression Atlas, The Human Cell Landscape, and more). We correlated gene expression with clinical factors (including but not limited to age, gender, race, body mass index, and smoking history), HLA genotype, immune gene expression patterns, cell subsets, and single-cell sequencing as well as commensal microbiome. RESULTS: Matched normal tissues generally display higher ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression compared with cancer, with normal and tumor from digestive organs expressing the highest levels. No clinical factors were consistently identified to be significantly associated with gene expression levels though outlier organ systems were observed for some factors. Similarly, no HLA genotypes were consistently associated with gene expression levels. Strong correlations were observed between ACE2 expression levels and multiple immune gene signatures including interferon-stimulated genes and the T cell-inflamed phenotype as well as inverse associations with angiogenesis and transforming growth factor-β signatures. ACE2 positively correlated with macrophage subsets across tumor types. TMPRSS2 was less associated with immune gene expression but was strongly associated with epithelial cell abundance. Single-cell sequencing analysis across nine independent studies demonstrated little to no ACE2 or TMPRSS2 expression in lymphocytes or macrophages. ACE2 and TMPRSS2 gene expression associated with commensal microbiota in matched normal tissues particularly from colorectal cancers, with distinct bacterial populations showing strong associations. CONCLUSIONS: We performed a large-scale integration of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 gene expression across clinical, genetic, and microbiome domains. We identify novel associations with the microbiota and confirm host immunity associations with gene expression. We suggest caution in interpretation regarding genetic associations with ACE2 expression suggested from smaller case series. | J Immunother Cancer | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2805 | Social Media and Emotional Burnout Regulation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Multilevel Approach BACKGROUND: In February 2020, the Chinese government imposed a complete lockdown of Wuhan and other cities in Hubei Province to contain a spike of COVID-19 cases. Although such measures are effective in preventing the spread of the virus, medical professionals strongly voiced a caveat concerning the pandemic emotional burnout at the individual level. Although the lockdown limited individuals’ interpersonal communication with people in their social networks, it is common that individuals turn to social media to seek and share health information, exchange social support, and express pandemic-generated feelings. OBJECTIVE: Based on a holistic and multilevel perspective, this study examines how pandemic-related emotional exhaustion enacts intrapersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal emotional regulation strategies, and then evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies, with a particular interest in understanding the role of hyperpersonal-level regulation or social media–based regulation. METHODS: Using an online panel, this study sampled 538 Chinese internet users from Hubei Province, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Survey data collection lasted for 12 days from February 7-18, 2020, two weeks after Hubei Province was placed under quarantine. The sample had an average age of 35 (SD 10.65, range 18-78) years, and a majority were married (n=369, 68.6%). RESULTS: Using structural equation modeling, this study found that intrapersonal-level (B=0.22; β=.24; P<.001) and interpersonal-level (B=0.35; β=.49; P<.001) emotional regulation strategies were positively associated with individuals’ outcome reappraisal. In contrast with intrapersonal and interpersonal regulations, hyperpersonal (social media–based) regulation strategies, such as disclosing and retweeting negative emotions, were negatively related to the outcome reappraisal (B=–1.00; β=–.80; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with previous literature, intrapersonal-level regulation (eg, cognitive reappraisal, mindfulness, and self-kindness) and interpersonal-level supportive interaction may generate a buffering effect on emotional exhaustion and promote individuals’ reappraisal toward the stressful situation. However, hyperpersonal-level regulation may exacerbate the experienced negative emotions and impede reappraisal of the pandemic situation. It is speculated that retweeting content that contains pandemic-related stress and anxiety may cause a digital emotion contagion. Individuals who share other people’s negative emotional expressions on social media are likely to be affected by the negative affect contagion. More importantly, the possible benefits of intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulations may be counteracted by social media or hyperpersonal regulation. This suggests the necessity to conduct social media–based health communication interventions to mitigate the social media–wide negative affect contagion if lockdown policies related to highly infectious diseases are initiated. | J Med Internet Res | 2021 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2806 | Opportunities and challenges of e-learning in vocational training in General Practice-a project report about implementing digital formats in the KWBW-Verbundweiterbildungplus Background: The task of the Competence Centers for vocational training (KW) is to increase the attractiveness and quality of vocational (=post-graduate) training in general practice. For this purpose, they offer, among other things, a structured seminar program for post-graduate trainees in general practice (GP-trainees). During the Covid-19 pandemic the seminar program of the KWBW-Verbundweiterbildung(plus®) in Baden-Württemberg was converted to digital formats. The goal of the paper is to evaluate the acceptance by the GP-trainees and lecturers, to describe experiences with the conversion to e-learning and to derive recommendations with regard to the future orientation of seminar programs in post-graduate as well as continuing medical education. The implementation was based on a modified Kern-cycle and aimed at offering eight teaching units of 45 minutes each to a large number of GP-trainees. It tried to maintain the high quality of content and education as well as the interactive character of the previous seminars. For this purpose, the events were designed as synchronous webinars (six units) with asynchronous preparation and post-processing (two units) according to the flipped classroom method. The evaluation by the participating GP-trainees and lecturers was performed online using a multi-center developed and pre-piloted questionnaire. Results and discussion: N=101 GP-trainees participated in the evaluation of five individual seminar days in the second quarter of 2020 (response rate 97%). 58% (N=59) of the trainees were satisfied or very satisfied with the implementation. 82% (n=83) rated pre-tasks as helpful. 99% (n=100) would participate in an online seminar again. For 52% (n=53) of the trainees, the attitude towards e-learning had changed positively. The main advantages mentioned were no travel, save in time and costs as well as increased flexibility. The main disadvantages mentioned were less personal interaction and technical obstacles. The high acceptance of the new digital format showed the fundamental potential of e-learning in continuing medical education. The experiences can be a source of inspiration for other departments and KW. However, it also shows that important goals of KW, such as the personal interaction of the peer group, could not be achieved. In the future, it is important to develop a suitable mix of presence and digital formats with the aim to improve the attractiveness as well as sustainability of continuing medical education. | GMS J Med Educ | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2807 | Severe acute respiratory syndrome: lessons and uncertainties N/A | Neth J Med | 2003 | | CORD-19 |
| 2808 | Modified SEIR and AI prediction of the epidemics trend of COVID-19 in China under public health interventions N/A | J Thorac Dis | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2809 | Estimating the reproductive number and the outbreak size of COVID-19 in Korea OBJECTIVES: Since the first novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient in Korea was diagnosed on January 20, 2020, 30 patients were diagnosed until February 17, 2020. However, 5,298 additional patients were confirmed until March 4, 2020. Therefore, our objective was to estimate the reproduction number (R) and evaluate the effectiveness of preventive measures. METHODS: A COVID-19 transmission model (SEIHR) was established to suit the Korean outbreak. The number of daily confirmed cases in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province (NGP), the main area of outbreak, was used. The first patient’ symptom onset date in the Daegu/NGP outbreak was assumed as January 22, 2020. The R according to the start date of the effect of preventive measures was estimated. RESULTS: The estimated R in Hubei Province, China, was 4.0281, whereas the estimated initial R in Korea was 0.555, but later in Daegu/NGP, the value was between 3.472 and 3.543. When the transmission period decreases from 4-day to 2-day, the outbreak ends early, but the peak of the epidemic increases, and the total number of patients does not change greatly. It was found that, if transmission rate decreases, the outbreak ends early, and the size of the peak and the total number of patients also decreases. CONCLUSIONS: To end the COVID-19 epidemic, efforts to reduce the spread of the virus, such as social distancing and wearing masks, are absolutely crucial with the participation of the public, along with the policy of reducing the transmission period by finding and isolating patients as quickly as possible through the efforts of the quarantine authorities. | Epidemiol Health | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2810 | Intracranial thrombectomy using the Solitaire stent: a historical vignette N/A | J Neurointerv Surg | 2012 | | CORD-19 |
| 2811 | Concerns for low-resource countries, with under-prepared intensive care units, facing the COVID-19 pandemic BACKGROUND: Low-resource countries with fragile healthcare systems lack trained healthcare professionals and specialized resources for COVID-19 patient hospitalization, including mechanical ventilators. Additional socio-economic complications such as civil war and financial crisis in Libya and other low-resource countries further complicate healthcare delivery. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey evaluating hospital and intensive care unit's capacity and readiness was performed from 16 leading Libyan hospitals in March 2020. In addition, a survey was conducted among 400 doctors who worked in these hospitals to evaluate the status of personal protective equipment. RESULTS: Out of 16 hospitals, the highest hospital capacity was 1000 in-patient beds, while the lowest was 25 beds with a median of 200 (IQR 52-417, range 25 – 1000) hospital beds. However, a median of only eight (IQR 6-14, range 3 – 37) available functioning ICU beds were reported in these hospitals. Only 9 (IQR 4.5-14, range 2 – 20) mechanical ventilators were reported and none of the hospitals had a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction machine for COVID-19 testing. Moreover, they relied on one of two central laboratories located in major cities. Our PPE survey revealed that 56.7% hospitals lacked PPE and 53% of healthcare workers reported that they did not receive proper PPE training. In addition, 70% reported that they were buying the PPE themselves as hospitals did not provide them. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides an alarming overview of the unpreparedness of Libyan hospitals for detecting and treating patients with COVID-19 and limiting the spread of the pandemic. | Infect Dis Health | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2812 | Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak on ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Care in Hong Kong, China | Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2813 | Clinical Characteristics and Prognostic Factors for Intensive Care Unit Admission of Patients With COVID-19: Retrospective Study Using Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing BACKGROUND: Many factors involved in the onset and clinical course of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are still unknown. Although big data analytics and artificial intelligence are widely used in the realms of health and medicine, researchers are only beginning to use these tools to explore the clinical characteristics and predictive factors of patients with COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: Our primary objectives are to describe the clinical characteristics and determine the factors that predict intensive care unit (ICU) admission of patients with COVID-19. Determining these factors using a well-defined population can increase our understanding of the real-world epidemiology of the disease. METHODS: We used a combination of classic epidemiological methods, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning (for predictive modeling) to analyze the electronic health records (EHRs) of patients with COVID-19. We explored the unstructured free text in the EHRs within the Servicio de Salud de Castilla-La Mancha (SESCAM) Health Care Network (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain) from the entire population with available EHRs (1,364,924 patients) from January 1 to March 29, 2020. We extracted related clinical information regarding diagnosis, progression, and outcome for all COVID-19 cases. RESULTS: A total of 10,504 patients with a clinical or polymerase chain reaction–confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 were identified; 5519 (52.5%) were male, with a mean age of 58.2 years (SD 19.7). Upon admission, the most common symptoms were cough, fever, and dyspnea; however, all three symptoms occurred in fewer than half of the cases. Overall, 6.1% (83/1353) of hospitalized patients required ICU admission. Using a machine-learning, data-driven algorithm, we identified that a combination of age, fever, and tachypnea was the most parsimonious predictor of ICU admission; patients younger than 56 years, without tachypnea, and temperature <39 degrees Celsius (or >39 ºC without respiratory crackles) were not admitted to the ICU. In contrast, patients with COVID-19 aged 40 to 79 years were likely to be admitted to the ICU if they had tachypnea and delayed their visit to the emergency department after being seen in primary care. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that a combination of easily obtainable clinical variables (age, fever, and tachypnea with or without respiratory crackles) predicts whether patients with COVID-19 will require ICU admission. | J Med Internet Res | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2814 | Histopathology and ultrastructural findings of fatal COVID-19 infections in Washington State: a case series BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of an ongoing pandemic, with increasing deaths worldwide. To date, documentation of the histopathological features in fatal cases of the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has been scarce due to sparse autopsy performance and incomplete organ sampling. We aimed to provide a clinicopathological report of severe COVID-19 cases by documenting histopathological changes and evidence of SARS-CoV-2 tissue tropism. METHODS: In this case series, patients with a positive antemortem or post-mortem SARS-CoV-2 result were considered eligible for enrolment. Post-mortem examinations were done on 14 people who died with COVID-19 at the King County Medical Examiner's Office (Seattle, WA, USA) and Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office (Everett, WA, USA) in negative-pressure isolation suites during February and March, 2020. Clinical and laboratory data were reviewed. Tissue examination was done by light microscopy, immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, and quantitative RT-PCR. FINDINGS: The median age of our cohort was 73·5 years (range 42–84; IQR 67·5–77·25). All patients had clinically significant comorbidities, the most common being hypertension, chronic kidney disease, obstructive sleep apnoea, and metabolic disease including diabetes and obesity. The major pulmonary finding was diffuse alveolar damage in the acute or organising phases, with five patients showing focal pulmonary microthrombi. Coronavirus-like particles were detected in the respiratory system, kidney, and gastrointestinal tract. Lymphocytic myocarditis was observed in one patient with viral RNA detected in the tissue. INTERPRETATION: The primary pathology observed in our cohort was diffuse alveolar damage, with virus located in the pneumocytes and tracheal epithelium. Microthrombi, where observed, were scarce and endotheliitis was not identified. Although other non-pulmonary organs showed susceptibility to infection, their contribution to the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection requires further examination. FUNDING: None. | Lancet | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2815 | A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker) N/A | Nat Hum Behav | 2021 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2816 | Utility of lateral flow tests in SARS-CoV-2 infection monitorization INTRODUCTION: The diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection is crucial for medical and public health reasons, to allow the best treatment of cases and the best control of the pandemic. Serology testing allows for the detection of asymptomatic infections and 19-COVID cases once the virus has been cleared. We analyzed the usefulness of the SARS-CoV-2 rapid test of Autobio and tried to correlate its pattern with the severity of COVID19 infection. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analyzed the accuracy and clinical usefulness of a point-of-care IgM and/or IgG test for SARS-CoV-2 in 35 COVID-19 patients [12 (34.3%) mild-moderate and 23 (65.7%) severe-critical] admitted to a field hospital in Madrid, as well as in 5 controls. RESULTS: The mean time from the first day of symptoms to the antibody test was 28 days (SD: 8.7), similar according to the severity of the disease. All patients with SARS-CoV-2 PCR+ showed the corresponding IgG positivity, while these results were negative in all control individuals. A total of 26 (74%) cases also presented with positive IgM, 19 (83%) were severe-critical cases and 7 (58%) were mild-moderate cases. The IgM response lasted longer in the severe critical cases (mean: 29.7 days; SD: 8.4) compared to the moderate cases (mean: 21.2 days; SD: 2.0). CONCLUSIONS: Rapid serology tests are useful for the diagnosis of patients with COVID-19 (mainly IgG detection) and may also be correlated with the severity of the infection (based on IgM detection). | Rev Esp Quimioter | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2817 | Short term outcome and risk factors for adverse clinical outcomes in adults with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) N/A | Thorax | 2003 | | CORD-19 |
| 2818 | Updated understanding of the outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, China To help health workers and the public recognize and deal with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019‐nCoV) quickly, effectively, and calmly with an updated understanding. A comprehensive search from Chinese and worldwide official websites and announcements was performed between 1 December 2019 and 9:30 am 26 January 2020 (Beijing time). A latest summary of 2019‐nCoV and the current outbreak was drawn. Up to 24 pm, 25 January 2020, a total of 1975 cases of 2019‐nCoV infection were confirmed in mainland China with a total of 56 deaths having occurred. The latest mortality was approximately 2.84% with a total of 2684 cases still suspected. The China National Health Commission reported the details of the first 17 deaths up to 24 pm, 22 January 2020. The deaths included 13 males and 4 females. The median age of the people who died was 75 (range 48‐89) years. Fever (64.7%) and cough (52.9%) were the most common first symptoms among those who died. The median number of days from the occurence of the first symptom to death was 14.0 (range 6‐41) days, and it tended to be shorter among people aged 70 years or more (11.5 [range 6‐19] days) than those aged less than 70 years (20 [range 10‐41] days; P = .033). The 2019‐nCoV infection is spreading and its incidence is increasing nationwide. The first deaths occurred mostly in elderly people, among whom the disease might progress faster. The public should still be cautious in dealing with the virus and pay more attention to protecting the elderly people from the virus. | J Med Virol | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2819 | Care for Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19 N/A | JAMA | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2820 | Rapid isothermal amplification and portable detection system for SARS-CoV-2 The COVID-19 pandemic provides an urgent example where a gap exists between availability of state-of-the-art diagnostics and current needs. As assay protocols and primer sequences become widely known, many laboratories perform diagnostic tests using methods such as RT-PCR or reverse transcription loop mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). Here, we report an RT-LAMP isothermal assay for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus and demonstrate the assay on clinical samples using a simple and accessible point-of-care (POC) instrument. We characterized the assay by dipping swabs into synthetic nasal fluid spiked with the virus, moving the swab to viral transport medium (VTM), and sampling a volume of the VTM to perform the RT-LAMP assay without an RNA extraction kit. The assay has a limit of detection (LOD) of 50 RNA copies per μL in the VTM solution within 30 min. We further demonstrate our assay by detecting SARS-CoV-2 viruses from 20 clinical samples. Finally, we demonstrate a portable and real-time POC device to detect SARS-CoV-2 from VTM samples using an additively manufactured three-dimensional cartridge and a smartphone-based reader. The POC system was tested using 10 clinical samples, and was able to detect SARS-CoV-2 from these clinical samples by distinguishing positive samples from negative samples after 30 min. The POC tests are in complete agreement with RT-PCR controls. This work demonstrates an alternative pathway for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics that does not require conventional laboratory infrastructure, in settings where diagnosis is required at the point of sample collection. | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2821 | Operative time and other outcomes of the electrothermal bipolar vessel sealing system (LigaSure) vs other methods for surgical hemostasis: a meta-analysis N/A | Surg Innov | 2008 | | CORD-19 |
| 2822 | COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Chinese Population: A Large-Scale National Study Globally, vaccine hesitancy is a growing public health problem. It is detrimental to the consolidation of immunization program achievements and elimination of vaccine-targeted diseases. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in China and explore its contributing factors. A national cross-sectional online survey among Chinese adults (≥18 years old) was conducted between August 6, 2021 and August 9 via a market research company. We collected sociodemographic information; lifestyle behavior; quality of life; the knowledge, awareness, and behavior of COVID-19; the knowledge, awareness, and behavior of COVID-19 vaccine; willingness of COVID-19 vaccination; accessibility of COVID-19 vaccination services; skepticism about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccine; doctor and vaccine developer scale; and so on. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to estimate the associations by using logistic regression models. A total of 29,925 residents (48.64% men) were enrolled in our study with mean age of 30.99 years. We found an overall prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy at 8.40% (95% CI, 8.09–8.72) in primary vaccination and 8.39% (95% CI, 8.07–8.70) in booster vaccination. In addition, after adjusting for potential confounders, we found that women, higher educational level, married residents, higher score of health condition, never smoked, increased washing hands, increased wearing mask, increased social distance, lower level of vaccine conspiracy beliefs, disease risks outweigh vaccine risk, higher level of convenient vaccination, and higher level of trust in doctor and developer were more willing to vaccinate than all others (all p < 0.05). Age, sex, educational level, marital status, chronic disease condition, smoking, healthy behaviors, the curability of COVID-19, the channel of accessing information of COVID-19 vaccine, endorsement of vaccine conspiracy beliefs, weigh risks of vaccination against risks of the disease, making a positive influence on the health of others around you, and lower trust in healthcare system may affect the variation of willingness to take a COVID-19 vaccine (all p < 0.05). The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was modest in China, even with the slight resulting cascade of changing vaccination rates between the primary and booster vaccination. Urgent action to address vaccine hesitancy is needed in building trust in medical personnel and vaccine producers, promoting the convenience of vaccination services, and spreading reliable information of COVID-19 vaccination via the Internet and other media. | Front Immunol | 2021 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2823 | Effects of common mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 Spike RBD and its ligand, the human ACE2 receptor on binding affinity and kinetics The interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 virus Spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) and the ACE2 cell surface protein is required for viral infection of cells. Mutations in the RBD are present in SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern that have emerged independently worldwide. For example, the B.1.1.7 lineage has a mutation (N501Y) in its Spike RBD that enhances binding to ACE2. There are also ACE2 alleles in humans with mutations in the RBD binding site. Here we perform a detailed affinity and kinetics analysis of the effect of five common RBD mutations (K417N, K417T, N501Y, E484K, and S477N) and two common ACE2 mutations (S19P and K26R) on the RBD/ACE2 interaction. We analysed the effects of individual RBD mutations and combinations found in new SARS-CoV-2 Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), and Gamma (P1) variants. Most of these mutations increased the affinity of the RBD/ACE2 interaction. The exceptions were mutations K417N/T, which decreased the affinity. Taken together with other studies, our results suggest that the N501Y and S477N mutations enhance transmission primarily by enhancing binding, the K417N/T mutations facilitate immune escape, and the E484K mutation enhances binding and immune escape. | Elife | 2021 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2824 | Mesenchymal stem cell therapy for acute respiratory distress syndrome: from basic to clinics The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has occurred in China and around the world. SARS-CoV-2-infected patients with severe pneumonia rapidly develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and die of multiple organ failure. Despite advances in supportive care approaches, ARDS is still associated with high mortality and morbidity. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapy may be an potential alternative strategy for treating ARDS by targeting the various pathophysiological events of ARDS. By releasing a variety of paracrine factors and extracellular vesicles, MSC can exert anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-microbial, and pro-angiogenic effects, promote bacterial and alveolar fluid clearance, disrupt the pulmonary endothelial and epithelial cell damage, eventually avoiding the lung and distal organ injuries to rescue patients with ARDS. An increasing number of experimental animal studies and early clinical studies verify the safety and efficacy of MSC therapy in ARDS. Since low cell engraftment and survival in lung limit MSC therapeutic potentials, several strategies have been developed to enhance their engraftment in the lung and their intrinsic, therapeutic properties. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the mechanisms and optimization of MSC therapy in ARDS and highlighted the potentials and possible barriers of MSC therapy for COVID-19 patients with ARDS. | Protein Cell | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2825 | RECOVERY- Respiratory Support: Respiratory Strategies for patients with suspected or proven COVID-19 respiratory failure; Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, High-flow Nasal Oxygen and standard care: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial OBJECTIVE: The trial objective is to determine if Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) or High-Flow Nasal Oxygen (HFNO) is clinically effective compared to standard oxygen therapy in patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. TRIAL DESIGN: Adaptive (group-sequential), parallel group, pragmatic, superiority randomised controlled, open-label, multi-centre, effectiveness trial. PARTICIPANTS: The trial is being conducted across approximately 60 hospitals across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Inpatients at participating hospitals are eligible to participate if they have respiratory failure with suspected or proven COVID-19, and meet all of the inclusion criteria and none of the exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria: 1) Adults ≥ 18 years; 2) Admitted to hospital with suspected or proven COVID-19; 3) Receiving oxygen with fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO(2)) ≥0.4 and peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO(2)) ≤94%; and 4) Plan for escalation to tracheal intubation if needed. Exclusion criteria: 1) Planned tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation imminent within 1 hour; 2) Known or clinically apparent pregnancy; 3) Any absolute contraindication to CPAP or HFNO; 4) Decision not to intubate due to ceiling of treatment or withdrawal of treatment anticipated; and 5) Equipment for both CPAP and HFNO not available. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: Intervention one: Continuous positive airway pressure delivered by any device. Set-up and therapy titration is not protocolised and is delivered in accordance with clinical discretion. Intervention two: High-flow nasal oxygen delivered by any device. Set-up and therapy titration is not protocolised and is delivered in accordance with clinical discretion. Comparator group: Standard care- oxygen delivered by face mask or nasal cannula (excluding the use of continuous positive airway pressure or high-flow nasal oxygen). Set-up and therapy titration is not protocolised and is delivered in accordance with clinical discretion. Intervention delivery continues up to the point of death, tracheal intubation, or clinical determination that there is no ongoing need (palliation or improvement). MAIN OUTCOMES: The primary outcome is a composite outcome comprising tracheal intubation or mortality within 30 days following randomisation. Secondary outcomes include tracheal intubation rate, time to tracheal intubation, duration of invasive ventilation, mortality rate, time to mortality, length of hospital stay, and length of critical care stay. RANDOMISATION: Participants are randomised in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive either continuous positive airway pressure, high-flow nasal oxygen or standard care. Due to the challenging environment of study delivery, a specific intervention may not always be available at the hospital site. The study uses two integrated randomisation systems to allow, where required, the site to randomise between all three interventions, between CPAP and standard care, and between HFNO and standard care. System integration ensures maintenance of balance between interventions. Randomisation is performed using a telephone-based interactive voice response system to maintain allocation concealment. The randomisation sequence was computer-generated using the minimisation method. Participant randomisation is stratified by site, gender (M/F), and age (<50, >=50 years). BLINDING (MASKING): The nature of the trial interventions precludes blinding of the researcher, patient and clinical team. Primary and secondary outcomes are all objective outcomes, thereby minimising the risk of detection bias. NUMBERS TO BE RANDOMISED (SAMPLE SIZE): 4002 participants (1334 to be randomized to each of the three study arms) TRIAL STATUS: Current protocol: Version 4.0, 29(th) May 2020. Recruitment began on April 6, 2020 and is anticipated to be complete by April 5, 2021. The trial has been awarded Urgent Public Health status by the National Institute of Health Research on 13(th) April 2020. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN, ISRCTN16912075. Registered 6(th) April 2020, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN16912075 FULL PROTOCOL: The full protocol (version 4.0, 29(th) May 2020) 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. The study protocol has been reported in accordance with the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Clinical Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) guidelines (Additional file 2). | Trials | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2826 | Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection: causality or coincidence? | Lancet Neurol | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2827 | Recent Advances in the Evaluation of Serological Assays for the Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19 Introduction: Few data on the diagnostic performance of serological tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are currently available. We evaluated sensitivity and specificity of five different widely used commercial serological assays for the detection of SARS-CoV-2–specific IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies using reverse transcriptase-PCR assay in nasopharyngeal swab as reference standard test. Methods: A total of 337 plasma samples collected in the period April–June 2020 from SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positive (n = 207) and negative (n = 130) subjects were investigated by one point-of-care lateral flow immunochromatographic assay (LFIA IgG and IgM, Technogenetics) and four fully automated assays: two chemiluminescence immunoassays (CLIA-iFlash IgG and IgM, Shenzhen YHLO Biotech and CLIA-LIAISON(®) XL IgG, DiaSorin), one electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA-Elecsys(®) total predominant IgG, Roche), and one enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA IgA, Euroimmune). Results: The overall sensitivity of all IgG serological assays was >80% and the specificity was >97%. The sensitivity of IgG assays was lower within 2 weeks from the onset of symptoms ranging from 70.8 to 80%. The LFIA and CLIA-iFlash IgM showed an overall low sensitivity of 47.6 and 54.6%, while the specificity was 98.5 and 96.2%, respectively. The ELISA IgA yielded a sensitivity of 84.3% and specificity of 81.7%. However, the ELISA IgA result was indeterminate in 11.7% of cases. Conclusions: IgG serological assays seem to be a reliable tool for the retrospective diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. IgM assays seem to have a low sensitivity and IgA assay is limited by a substantial rate of indeterminate results. | Front Public Health | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2828 | Clinical Characteristics and Factors Associated With Long-Term Viral Excretion in Patients With SARS-CoV-2 Infection: a Single-Center 28-Day Study BACKGROUND: Despite the ongoing spread of COVID-19, knowledge about factors affecting prolonged viral excretion is limited. METHODS: In this study, we retrospectively collected data from 99 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 between January 19 and February 17 in Zhejiang Province, China. We classified them into two groups based on whether the virus test results eventually became negative. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 shedding. RESULTS: Among 99 patients, 61 patients had SARS-CoV-2 clearance (virus-negative group), but 38 patients had sustained positive results (virus-positive group). The median duration of SARS-CoV-2 excretion was 15 days (IQR 12-19) among the virus-negative patients. The shedding time was significantly increased if fecal SARS-CoV-2 RNA test results was positive. Male sex (HR, 0.58 [95% CI, 0.35-0.98]), immunoglobulin use (HR, 0.42 [95% CI, 0.24-0.76]), APACHE II score (HR, 0.89 [95% CI, 0.84-0.96]), and lymphocyte count (HR, 1.81 [95% CI, 1.05-3.1]) were independent factors associated with a prolonged duration of SARS-CoV-2 shedding. Antiviral therapy and corticosteroid treatment were not independent factors. CONCLUSIONS: SARS-CoV-2 RNA clearance time was associated with sex, disease severity and lymphocyte function. The current antiviral protocol and low-to-moderate dosage of corticosteroid had little effect on the duration of viral excretion. | J Infect Dis | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2829 | Advances in the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is spreading worldwide. Antiviral therapy is the most important treatment for COVID-19. Among the drugs under investigation, anti-malarials, chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), are being repurposed as treatment for COVID-19. CQ/HCQ were shown to prevent receptor recognition by coronaviruses, inhibit endosome acidification, which interferes with membrane fusion, and exhibit immunomodulatory activity. These multiple mechanisms may work together to exert a therapeutic effect on COVID-19. A number of in vitro studies revealed inhibitory effects of CQ/HCQ on various coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 although conflicting results exist. Several clinical studies showed that CQ/HCQ alone or in combination with a macrolide may alleviate the clinical symptoms of COVID-19, promote viral conversion, and delay disease progression, with less serious adverse effects. However, recent studies indicated that the use of CQ/HCQ, alone or in combination with a macrolide, did not show any favorable effect on patients with COVID-19. Adverse effects, including prolonged QT interval after taking CQ/HCQ, may develop in COVID-19 patients. Therefore, current data are not sufficient enough to support the use of CQ/HCQ as therapies for COVID-19 and increasing caution should be taken about the application of CQ/HCQ in COVID-19 before conclusive findings are obtained by well-designed, multi-center, randomized, controlled studies. | Postgrad Med | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2830 | Comparison of reverse transcription-PCR with tissue culture and other rapid diagnostic assays for detection of type A influenza virus N/A | J Clin Microbiol | 1996 | | CORD-19 |
| 2831 | Isolation of potent SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies and protection from disease in a small animal model Countermeasures to prevent and treat COVID-19 are a global health priority. We enrolled a cohort of SARS-CoV-2-recovered participants, developed neutralization assays to interrogate antibody responses, adapted our high-throughput antibody generation pipeline to rapidly screen over 1800 antibodies, and established an animal model to test protection. We isolated potent neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) to two epitopes on the receptor binding domain (RBD) and to distinct non-RBD epitopes on the spike (S) protein. We showed that passive transfer of a nAb provides protection against disease in high-dose SARS-CoV-2 challenge in Syrian hamsters, as revealed by maintained weight and low lung viral titers in treated animals. The study suggests a role for nAbs in prophylaxis, and potentially therapy, of COVID-19. The nAbs define protective epitopes to guide vaccine design. | Science | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2832 | Coronavirus multiplication strategy. II. Mapping the avian infectious bronchitis virus intracellular RNA species to the genome N/A | J Virol | 1980 | | CORD-19 |
| 2833 | Estimation and Comparison of Current and Future Racial/Ethnic Representation in the US Healthcare Workforce IMPORTANCE: The COVID-19 pandemic coupled with health disparities have highlighted the disproportionate burden of disease among Black, Hispanic, and Native American (ie, American Indian or Alaska Native) populations. Increasing transparency around the representation of these populations in health care professions may encourage efforts to increase diversity that could improve cultural competence among health care professionals and reduce health disparities. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the racial/ethnic diversity of the current health care workforce and the graduate pipeline for 10 health care professions and to evaluate whether the diversity of the pipeline suggests greater representation of Black, Hispanic, and Native American populations in the future. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study used weighted data from the 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) to compare the diversity of 10 health care occupations (advanced practice registered nurses, dentists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, physical therapists, physician assistants, physicians, registered nurses, respiratory therapists, and speech-language pathologists) with the diversity of the US working-age population, and 2019 data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) were used to compare the diversity of graduates with that of the US population of graduation age. Data from the IPEDS included all awards and degrees conferred between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019, in the US. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: A health workforce diversity index (diversity index) was developed to compare the racial/ethnic diversity of the 10 health care professions (or the graduates in the pipeline) analyzed with the racial/ethnic diversity of the current working-age population (or average student-age population). For the current workforce, the index was the ratio of current workers in a health occupation to the total working-age population by racial/ethnic group. For new graduates, the index was the ratio of recent graduates to the population aged 20 to 35 years by racial/ethnic group. A value equal to 1 indicated equal representation of the racial/ethnic groups in the current workforce (or pipeline) compared with the working-age population. RESULTS: The study sample obtained from the 2019 ACS comprised a weighted total count of 148 358 252 individuals aged 20 to 65 years (White individuals: 89 756 689; Black individuals: 17 916 227; Hispanic individuals: 26 953 648; and Native American individuals: 1 108 404) who were working or searching for work and a weighted total count of 71 608 009 individuals aged 20 to 35 years (White individuals: 38 995 242; Black individuals: 9 830 765; Hispanic individuals: 15 257 274; and Native American individuals: 650 221) in the educational pipeline. Among the 10 professions assessed, the mean diversity index for Black people was 0.54 in the current workforce and in the educational pipeline. In 5 of 10 health care professions, representation of Black graduates was lower than representation in the current workforce (eg, occupational therapy: 0.31 vs 0.50). The mean diversity index for Hispanic people was 0.34 in the current workforce; it improved to 0.48 in the educational pipeline but remained lower than 0.50 in 6 of 10 professions, including physical therapy (0.33). The mean diversity index for Native American people was 0.54 in the current workforce and increased to 0.57 in the educational pipeline. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This study found that Black, Hispanic, and Native American people were underrepresented in the 10 health care professions analyzed. Although some professions had greater diversity than others and there appeared to be improvement among graduates in the educational pipeline compared with the current workforce, additional policies are needed to further strengthen and support a workforce that is more representative of the population. | JAMA Netw Open | 2021 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2834 | Identification of potential SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors by targeting the interface region between the spike RBD and human ACE2 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a fatal infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus infection is initiated upon recognition and binding of the spike (S) protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) to the host cell surface receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Blocking the interaction between S protein and ACE2 receptor is a novel approach to prevent the viral entry into the host cell. The present study is aimed at the identification of small molecules which can disrupt the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 S protein and human ACE2 receptor by binding to the interface region. A chemical library consisting of 1,36,191 molecules were screened for drug-like compounds based on Lipinski’s rule of five, Verber’s rule and in silico toxicity parameters. The filtered drug-like molecules were next subjected to molecular docking in the interface region of RBD. The best three hits viz; ZINC64023823, ZINC33039472 and ZINC00991597 were further taken for molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies and binding free energy evaluations using Molecular mechanics-Poisson–Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) and Molecular mechanics-Generalized Born surface area (MM-GBSA). The protein-ligand complexes showed stable trajectories throughout the simulation time. ZINC33039472 exhibited binding free energy value lower as compared to the control (emodin) with a higher contribution by gas-phase energy and van der Waals energy to the total binding free energy. Thus, ZINC33039472 is identified to be a promising interfacial binding molecule which can inhibit the interaction between the viral S protein and human ACE2 receptor which would consequently help in the management of the disease. | J Infect Public Health | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2835 | Single-access laparoscopic sigmoidectomy as definitive surgical management of prior diverticulitis in a human patient N/A | Arch Surg | 2009 | | CORD-19 |
| 2836 | Telehealth for High-Risk Pregnancies in the Setting of the COVID-19 Pandemic As New York City became an international epicenter of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, telehealth was rapidly integrated into prenatal care at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, an academic hospital system in Manhattan. Goals of implementation were to consolidate in-person prenatal screening, surveillance, and examinations into fewer in-person visits while maintaining patient access to ongoing antenatal care and subspecialty consultations via telehealth virtual visits. The rationale for this change was to minimize patient travel and thus risk for COVID-19 exposure. Because a large portion of obstetric patients had underlying medical or fetal conditions placing them at increased risk for adverse outcomes, prenatal care telehealth regimens were tailored for increased surveillance and/or counseling. Based on the incorporation of telehealth into prenatal care for high-risk patients, specific recommendations are made for the following conditions, clinical scenarios, and services: (1) hypertensive disorders of pregnancy including preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, and chronic hypertension; (2) pregestational and gestational diabetes mellitus; (3) maternal cardiovascular disease; (4) maternal neurologic conditions; (5) history of preterm birth and poor obstetrical history including prior stillbirth; (6) fetal conditions such as intrauterine growth restriction, congenital anomalies, and multiple gestations including monochorionic placentation; (7) genetic counseling; (8) mental health services; (9) obstetric anesthesia consultations; and (10) postpartum care. While telehealth virtual visits do not fully replace in-person encounters during prenatal care, they do offer a means of reducing potential patient and provider exposure to COVID-19 while providing consolidated in-person testing and services. Key Points: Telehealth for prenatal care is feasible. Telehealth may reduce coronavirus exposure during prenatal care. Telehealth should be tailored for high risk prenatal patients. | Am J Perinatol | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2837 | Targeting the Dimerization of the Main Protease of Coronaviruses: A Potential Broad-Spectrum Therapeutic Strategy [Image: see text] A new coronavirus (CoV) caused a pandemic named COVID-19, which has become a global health care emergency in the present time. The virus is referred to as SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2) and has a genome similar (∼82%) to that of the previously known SARS-CoV (SARS coronavirus). An attractive therapeutic target for CoVs is the main protease (M(pro)) or 3-chymotrypsin-like cysteine protease (3CL(pro)), as this enzyme plays a key role in polyprotein processing and is active in a dimeric form. Further, M(pro) is highly conserved among various CoVs, and a mutation in M(pro) is often lethal to the virus. Thus, drugs targeting the M(pro) enzyme significantly reduce the risk of mutation-mediated drug resistance and display broad-spectrum antiviral activity. The combinatorial design of peptide-based inhibitors targeting the dimerization of SARS-CoV M(pro) represents a potential therapeutic strategy. In this regard, we have compiled the literature reports highlighting the effect of mutations and N-terminal deletion of residues of SARS-CoV M(pro) on its dimerization and, thus, catalytic activity. We believe that the present review will stimulate research in this less explored yet quite significant area. The effect of the COVID-19 epidemic and the possibility of future CoV outbreaks strongly emphasize the urgent need for the design and development of potent antiviral agents against CoV infections. | ACS Comb Sci | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2838 | Perceptions and experiences of the public regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: a qualitative study using phenomenological analysis OBJECTIVES: Perceptions of people regarding COVID-19 influences their health behaviour in terms of seeking public health services. This helps the government in planning appropriate public health strategies. Therefore, this study intends to explore the perceptions of people towards COVID-19 and their experiences during the pandemic in Nepal. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: This qualitative study was conducted among the public in Kathmandu, Kanchanpur, Bajura and Jhapa districts of Nepal. Eight focus group discussions and 40 in-depth interviews were conducted by using a maximum variation sampling method. RESULTS: The findings were organised into the following themes: General understanding of COVID-19, Disease prevention, Source of information and misconceptions, Expectation and challenges; and Personal and societal consequences of COVID-19, social distancing and lockdown. There was a good general understanding among respondents about COVID-19, personal preventive measures and population-level strategies. They responded that the use of masks, sanitisers, handwashing and proper lockdown would help to prevent the disease. The respondents acknowledged the vital role of media in increasing awareness. Participants also expressed concerns over the misleading news spread by some media. The lack of social interaction, isolation and loss of income were raised as pertinent issues by the participants as potentially leading to psychological consequences. Health workers and public both raised concerns over inadequate Personal Protective Equipment, under-prepared health system, unorganised public quarantine centres, and public violation of lockdown CONCLUSIONS: This study reports participants’ views on disease prevention measures such as maintaining personal hygiene, adhering to physical distancing, and using personal protective equipments. Additionally, it illuminates the confusion among public due to conflicting public health messages from different sources of information which was deemed as misleading by the participants. This research sheds light on people’s perspectives and experiences that can inform population-targeted policies in the future. | BMJ Open | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2839 | Modeling of the SARS coronavirus main proteinase and conformational flexibility of the active site N/A | Beijing Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue | 2003 | | CORD-19 |
| 2840 | The new 'normal': Rapid adoption of telemedicine in orthopedics during the COVID-19 pandemic BACKGROUND: Telemedicine provides a safe and effective means for the delivery of care by physicians amongst many subspecialties. Historically, orthopaedic practices in the United States have not widely utilized telemedicine for the delivery of orthopaedic care. As technology improves the adoption and utilization of telemedicine will likely grow, especially in light of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Our study aims to assess patient and surgeon satisfaction and efficacy of telemedicine during a rapid adoption due to the global pandemic. METHODS: All patients who completed a telemedicine encounter (telephone or video) with an orthopaedic surgeon were contacted. Patients were individually contacted after their visit, and a standardized validated post-visit satisfaction survey was completed. Orthopaedic surgeons completed a standardized post-encounter survey after each visit. Pre-COVID-19 patient satisfaction data was used for comparison. RESULTS: Orthopaedic surgeons completed 612 telehealth encounters either via phone or video consultation between April 6, 2020 and May 22, 2020. 95% of patients rated both surgeon sensitivity to their needs and response to their concerns as ‘good’ or ‘very good.’ 93% of patients reported they would participate in a telemedicine encounter again. Surgeons reported high satisfaction with telemedicine encounters (80%, 86% phone and video respectively), and that 78.4% of the time a telemedicine encounter was successful in replacing an in-person visit. CONCLUSION: Patients and orthopaedic surgeons documented high levels of satisfaction with telehealth encounters during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Telemedicine does not appear to be a replacement for all in-person clinic encounters, however, when used in the appropriate context demonstrated favourable results. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 4 Study. | Injury | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2841 | Virtual Ophthalmology: Telemedicine in a COVID-19 Era Abstract Purpose To discuss the effects of the SARS-Cov-2 betacoronavirus on ambulatory ophthalmology practices, the value proposition of telemedicine, tele-ophthalmology implementation methodologies, and the accelerated future of telemedicine. Design Review of the current telehealth landscape including usage, policies, and techniques for ambulatory practice integration. Methods We provide author-initiated review of recent trends in telehealth, governmental recommendations for healthcare delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a PubMed Central query for telemedicine in ophthalmology or tele-ophthalmology. In addition, authors’ comprehensive experience in telemedicine design and implementation is provided. Results A summary describing the present state of telehealth, tele-ophthalmology modeling, care delivery, and the proposed impact of telehealth surges on the future of ophthalmology practice. Conclusion Recent patient and provider interest in telemedicine, the relaxation of regulatory restrictions, increased remote care reimbursement, and ongoing social distancing practices compels many ophthalmologists to consider virtualizing services. | Am J Ophthalmol | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2842 | What is the role of Primary Healthcare in the COVID-19 pandemic? N/A | Epidemiol Serv Saude | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2843 | Distribution of SARS-CoV-2 PCR Cycle Threshold Values Provide Practical Insight Into Overall and Target-Specific Sensitivity Among Symptomatic Patients OBJECTIVES: We examined the distribution of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) cycle threshold (CT) values obtained from symptomatic patients being evaluated for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to determine the proportion of specimens containing a viral load near the assay limit of detection (LoD) to gain practical insight to the risk of false-negative results. We also examined the relationship between CT value and patient age to determine any age-dependent difference in viral load or test sensitivity. METHODS: We collected CT values obtained from the cobas severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) assay corresponding to 1,213 combined nasopharyngeal-oropharyngeal specimens obtained from symptomatic individuals that were reported as positive or presumptive positive for SARS-CoV-2. CT values were stratified by SARS-CoV target and patient age group. RESULTS: In total, 93.3% to 98.4% of specimens demonstrated CT values greater than 3× the assay LoD, at which point false-negative results would not be expected. The mean of CT values between age groups was statistically equivalent with the exception of patients in age group 80 to 89 years, which demonstrated slightly lower CTs. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the distribution of observed CT values, including the small proportion of specimens with values near the assay LoD, there is a low risk of false-negative RT-PCR results in combined nasopharyngeal-oropharyngeal specimens obtained from symptomatic individuals. | Am J Clin Pathol | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2844 | Drug Discovery Strategies for SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 virus that was first detected in December of 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has rapidly spread worldwide. The search for a suitable vaccine as well as effective therapeutics for the treatment of COVID-19 is underway. Drug repurposing screens provide a useful and effective solution for identifying potential therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2. For example, the experimental drug remdesivir, originally developed for Ebola virus infections, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as an emergency use treatment of COVID-19. However, the efficacy and toxicity of this drug need further improvements. In this review, we discuss recent findings on the pathology of coronaviruses and the drug targets for the treatment of COVID-19. Both SARS-CoV-2–specific inhibitors and broad-spectrum anticoronavirus drugs against SARS-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and SARS-CoV-2 will be valuable additions to the anti–SARS-CoV-2 armament. A multitarget treatment approach with synergistic drug combinations containing different mechanisms of action may be a practical therapeutic strategy for the treatment of severe COVID-19. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Understanding the biology and pathology of RNA viruses is critical to accomplish the challenging task of developing vaccines and therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2. This review highlights the anti–SARS-CoV-2 drug targets and therapeutic development strategies for COVID-19 treatment. | J Pharmacol Exp Ther | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2845 | Management of cardiovascular emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic N/A | Emerg Med J | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2846 | Facial Skin Temperature and Discomfort When Wearing Protective Face Masks: Thermal Infrared Imaging Evaluation and Hands Moving the Mask Individual respiratory protective devices and face masks represent critical tools in protecting health care workers in hospitals and clinics, and play a central role in decreasing the spread of the high-risk pandemic infection of 2019, coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The aim of the present study was to compare the facial skin temperature and the heat flow when wearing medical surgical masks to the same factors when wearing N95 respirators. A total of 20 subjects were recruited and during the evaluation, each subject was invited to wear a surgical mask or respirator for 1 h. The next day in the morning at the same hour, the same subject wore a N95 mask for 1 h with the same protocol. Infrared thermal evaluation was performed to measure the facial temperature of the perioral region and the perception ratings related to the humidity, heat, breathing difficulty, and discomfort were recorded. A significant difference in heat flow and perioral region temperature was recorded between the surgical mask and the N95 respirator (p < 0.05). A statistically significant difference in humidity, heat, breathing difficulty, and discomfort was present between the groups. The study results suggest that N95 respirators are able to induce an increased facial skin temperature, greater discomfort and lower wearing adherence when compared to the medical surgical masks. | Int J Environ Res Public Healt | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2847 | IFITM3 Inhibits Influenza A Virus Infection by Preventing Cytosolic Entry To replicate, viruses must gain access to the host cell's resources. Interferon (IFN) regulates the actions of a large complement of interferon effector genes (IEGs) that prevent viral replication. The interferon inducible transmembrane protein family members, IFITM1, 2 and 3, are IEGs required for inhibition of influenza A virus, dengue virus, and West Nile virus replication in vitro. Here we report that IFN prevents emergence of viral genomes from the endosomal pathway, and that IFITM3 is both necessary and sufficient for this function. Notably, viral pseudoparticles were inhibited from transferring their contents into the host cell cytosol by IFN, and IFITM3 was required and sufficient for this action. We further demonstrate that IFN expands Rab7 and LAMP1-containing structures, and that IFITM3 overexpression is sufficient for this phenotype. Moreover, IFITM3 partially resides in late endosomal and lysosomal structures, placing it in the path of invading viruses. Collectively our data are consistent with the prediction that viruses that fuse in the late endosomes or lysosomes are vulnerable to IFITM3's actions, while viruses that enter at the cell surface or in the early endosomes may avoid inhibition. Multiple viruses enter host cells through the late endocytic pathway, and many of these invaders are attenuated by IFN. Therefore these findings are likely to have significance for the intrinsic immune system's neutralization of a diverse array of threats. | PLoS Pathog | 2011 | | CORD-19 |
| 2848 | World health law: toward a new conception of global health governance for the 21st century N/A | Yale J Health Policy Law Ethic | 2005 | | CORD-19 |
| 2849 | Interrupting transmission of COVID-19: lessons from containment efforts in Singapore Despite multiple importations resulting in local chains of transmission, Singapore has been able to control the COVID-19 outbreak without major disruption to daily living. In this article, we describe the combination of measures taken by Singapore to contain COVID-19 and share some early lessons learnt from the experience. | J Travel Med | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
| 2850 | COVID-19 and applications of smartphone technology in the current pandemic BACKGROUND: With restrictions on face to face clinical consultations in the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges faced by health care systems in delivering patient care, alternative information technologies like telemedicine and smartphone are playing a key role. AIMS: We assess the role and applications of smartphone technology as an extension of telemedicine in provide continuity of care to our patients and surveillance during the current COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We have done a comprehensive review of the literature using suitable keywords on the search engines of PubMed, SCOPUS, Google Scholar and Research Gate in the first week of May 2020. RESULTS: Through the published literature on this topic, we discuss role, common applications and its support in extended role of telemedicine technology in several aspects of current COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSION: Smartphone technology on its own and as extension of telemedicine has significant applications in the current COVID-19 pandemic. As the smartphone technology further evolves with fifth generation cellular network expansion, it is going to play a key role in future of health medicine, patient referral, consultation, ergonomics and many other extended applications of health care. | Diabetes Metab Syndr | 2020 | | LitCov and CORD-19 |
