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)
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*More details on these impact measures can be found here.
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| Title | Venue | Year | Impact | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3201 | Epidemiological, clinical and virological characteristics of 465 hospitalized cases of COVID-19 from Zhejiang province in China BACKGROUND: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) and the associated coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) have spread throughout China. Previous studies predominantly focused on its place of origin, Wuhan, causing over estimation of the disease severity due to selection bias. We analyzed 465 confirmed cases in Zhejiang province to determine the epidemiological, clinical, and virological characteristics of COVID‐19. METHODS: Epidemiological, demographic, clinical, laboratory, and management data from qRT‐PCR confirmed COVID‐19 patients from January 17, 2020, to January 31, 2020, were collected, followed by multivariate logistic regression analysis for independent predictors of severe/critical‐type COVID‐19 and bioinformatic analysis for features of SARS‐CoV‐2 from Zhejiang province. RESULTS: Among 465 COVID‐19 patients, median age was 45 years, while hypertension, diabetes, and chronic liver disease were the most common comorbidities. History of exposure to the epidemic area was present in 170 (36.56%) and 185 (39.78%) patients were clustered in 77 families. Severe/critical‐type of COVID‐19 developed in 49 (10.54%) patients. Fever and cough were the most common symptoms, while diarrhea/vomiting was reported in 58 (12.47%) patients. Multivariate analysis revealed eight risk factors for severe/critical COVID‐19. Glucocorticoids and antibiotics were administered to 60 (12.90%) and 218(46.88%) patients, respectively. Bioinformatics showed four single amino acid mutations and one amino acid position loss in SARS‐CoV‐2 from Zhejiang province, with more similarity to humans than to viruses. CONCLUSIONS: SARS‐CoV‐2 showed virological mutations and more human transmission in Zhejiang province, indicating considerable epidemiological and clinical changes. Caution in glucocorticoid and antibiotics use is advisable. | Influenza Other Respir Viruses | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3202 | Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital emergency departments: results of a survey of departments in 2020-the Spanish ENCOVUR study N/A | Emergencias | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3203 | A Case of Heart Transplantation for Fulminant Myocarditis After ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Vaccination Vaccines have become the mainstay of management against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (coronavirus disease 2019; COVID-19) in the absence of effective antiviral therapy. Various adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccination have been reported, including cardiovascular complications such as myocarditis or pericarditis. Herein, we describe clinical records of a 63-year woman with fulminant myocarditis following ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination that was salvaged by heart transplantation. She complained chest pain, nausea, vomiting, and fever after the second vaccination. After the heart transplantation, the patient died due to necrotizing pneumonia on the 54th day of onset. Fulminant myocarditis is very rare after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination but can be fatal. | J Korean Med Sci | 2022 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3204 | Parenting-Related Exhaustion During the Italian COVID-19 Lockdown OBJECTIVE: Worldwide, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has generated significant worry, uncertainty, anxiety, sadness, and loneliness. In Italy, these effects have been particularly pronounced. While research on the COVID-19 outbreak has mainly focused on the clinical features of infected patients and the psychological impact on the general population and health professionals, no investigation has yet assessed the psychological impact of the pandemic on parents. In the present research, we conducted a web-based survey of Italian parents to examine the prevalence of parenting-related exhaustion—and to identify its associated risk and protective factors—4 weeks into the lockdown. METHODS: A total of 1,226 parents provided their consent to participate in the study and completed a demographic questionnaire, information relating to particular COVID-19 experiences, and measures of emotional exhaustion, parental resilience, social connections, and psychological distress during the lockdown. RESULTS: Seventeen percent of our sample experienced significant parenting-related exhaustion, with mothers more severely affected. Multiple regression analyses showed that greater parenting-related exhaustion was predicted by psychological distress, lower parental resilience, motherhood, fewer perceived social connections, and being single, as well as having a child with special needs, having a large number of children, and having younger children. CONCLUSION: The findings add further support to the call for preventive programs to support parents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health professionals and social workers should be warned of the effects of lockdown and social distancing on parenting and, consequently, the well-being of children. | J Pediatr Psychol | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3205 | A qualitative study on the psychological experience of caregivers of COVID-19 patients BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading rapidly, bringing pressure and challenges to nursing staff. OBJECTIVE: To explore the psychology of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients. METHOD: Using a phenomenological approach, we enrolled 20 nurses who provided care for COVID-19 patients in the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology from 20 January to 10 February 2020. The interviews were conducted face-to-face or by telephone and were analysed by Colaizzi's 7-step method. RESULTS: The psychological experience of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients can be summarized into four themes. Firstly, negative emotions present in early stage consisting of fatigue, discomfort, and helplessness was caused by high-intensity work, fear and anxiety, and concern for patients and family members. Secondly, self-coping styles included psychological and life adjustment, altruistic acts, team support, and rational cognition. Thirdly, we found growth under pressure, which included increased affection and gratefulness, development of professional responsibility, and self-reflection. Finally, we showed that positive emotions occurred simultaneously with negative emotions. CONCLUSIONS: During an epidemic outbreak, positive and negative emotions of the front-line nurses interweaved and coexisted. In the early stage, negative emotions were dominant and positive emotions appeared gradually. Self-coping styles and psychological growth played an important role in maintaining mental health of nurses. | Am J Infect Control | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3206 | Application of deep learning technique to manage COVID-19 in routine clinical practice using CT images: Results of 10 convolutional neural networks Abstract Fast diagnostic methods can control and prevent the spread of pandemic diseases like coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and assist physicians to better manage patients in high workload conditions. Although a laboratory test is the current routine diagnostic tool, it is time-consuming, imposing a high cost and requiring a well-equipped laboratory for analysis. Computed tomography (CT) has thus far become a fast method to diagnose patients with COVID-19. However, the performance of radiologists in diagnosis of COVID-19 was moderate. Accordingly, additional investigations are needed to improve the performance in diagnosing COVID-19. In this study is suggested a rapid and valid method for COVID-19 diagnosis using an artificial intelligence technique based. 1020 CT slices from 108 patients with laboratory proven COVID-19 (the COVID-19 group) and 86 patients with other atypical and viral pneumonia diseases (the non-COVID-19 group) were included. Ten well-known convolutional neural networks were used to distinguish infection of COVID-19 from non-COVID-19 groups: AlexNet, VGG-16, VGG-19, SqueezeNet, GoogleNet, MobileNet-V2, ResNet-18, ResNet-50, ResNet-101, and Xception. Among all networks, the best performance was achieved by ResNet-101 and Xception. ResNet-101 could distinguish COVID-19 from non-COVID-19 cases with an AUC of 0.994 (sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 99.02%; accuracy, 99.51%). Xception achieved an AUC of 0.994 (sensitivity, 98.04%; specificity, 100%; accuracy, 99.02%). However, the performance of the radiologist was moderate with an AUC of 0.873 (sensitivity, 89.21%; specificity, 83.33%; accuracy, 86.27%). ResNet-101 can be considered as a high sensitivity model to characterize and diagnose COVID-19 infections, and can be used as an adjuvant tool in radiology departments. | Comput Biol Med | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3207 | SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Healthcare workers from 10 hospitals in Quebec, Canada: a cross-sectional study BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected health care workers. We sought to estimate SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among hospital health care workers in Quebec, Canada, after the first wave of the pandemic and to explore factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity. METHODS: Between July 6 and Sept. 24, 2020, we enrolled health care workers from 10 hospitals, including 8 from a region with a high incidence of COVID-19 (the Montréal area) and 2 from low-incidence regions of Quebec. Eligible health care workers were physicians, nurses, orderlies and cleaning staff working in 4 types of care units (emergency department, intensive care unit, COVID-19 inpatient unit and non-COVID-19 inpatient unit). Participants completed a questionnaire and underwent SARS-CoV-2 serology testing. We identified factors independently associated with higher seroprevalence. RESULTS: Among 2056 enrolled health care workers, 241 (11.7%) had positive SARS-CoV-2 serology. Of these, 171 (71.0%) had been previously diagnosed with COVID-19. Seroprevalence varied among hospitals, from 2.4% to 3.7% in low-incidence regions to 17.9% to 32.0% in hospitals with outbreaks involving 5 or more health care workers. Higher seroprevalence was associated with working in a hospital where outbreaks occurred (adjusted prevalence ratio 4.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.63–6.57), being a nurse or nursing assistant (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.34, 95% CI 1.03–1.74) or an orderly (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.49, 95% CI 1.12–1.97), and Black or Hispanic ethnicity (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.41, 95% CI 1.13–1.76). Lower seroprevalence was associated with working in the intensive care unit (adjusted prevalence ratio 0.47, 95% CI 0.30–0.71) or the emergency department (adjusted prevalence ratio 0.61, 95% CI 0.39–0.98). INTERPRETATION: Health care workers in Quebec hospitals were at high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in outbreak settings. More work is needed to better understand SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics in health care settings. | CMAJ | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3208 | Suicide risk and prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic | Lancet Psychiatry | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3209 | Association of Race and Ethnicity With Comorbidities and Survival Among Patients With COVID-19 at an Urban Medical Center in New York IMPORTANCE: As of May 11, 2020, there have been more than 290 000 deaths worldwide from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Risk-adjusted differences in outcomes among patients of differing ethnicity and race categories are not well characterized. OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether presenting comorbidities in patients with COVID-19 in New York City differed by race/ethnicity and whether case fatality rates varied among different ethnic and racial groups, controlling for presenting comorbidities and other risk factors. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study included 5902 patients who presented for care to the Montefiore Medical Center, a large urban academic medical center in the Bronx, New York, between March 14 and April 15, 2020, and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay. Final data collection was April 27, 2020. EXPOSURES: Patient characteristics, including self-identified ethnicity/race, age, sex, socioeconomic status, and medical comorbidities, were tabulated. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Overall survival. Associations between patient demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and race/ethnicity were examined using χ(2) tests, and the association with survival was assessed using univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression, based on time from positive COVID-19 test. RESULTS: Of 9268 patients who were tested, 5902 ethnically diverse patients (63.7%) had SARS-CoV-2. Of these, 3129 patients (53.0%) were women, and the median (interquartile range) age was 58 (44-71) years. A total of 918 patients (15.5%) died within the study time frame. Overall, 1905 patients (32.3%) identified as Hispanic; 1935 (32.8%), non-Hispanic Black; 509 (8.6%), non-Hispanic White; and 171 (2.9%), Asian; the death rates were 16.2% (309), 17.2% (333), 20.0% (102), and 17.0% (29), respectively (P = .25). Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black patients had a higher proportion of more than 2 medical comorbidities with 654 (34.3%) and 764 (39.5%), respectively, compared with 147 (28.9%) among non-Hispanic White patients (P < .001). Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black patients were also more likely to test positive for COVID-19 than White patients, with 1905 of 2919 Hispanic patients (65.3%), 1935 of 2823 non-Hispanic Black patients (68.5%), and 509 of 960 non-Hispanic White patients (53.0%) having positive test results for SARS-CoV-2 (P < .001). While controlling for age, sex, socioeconomic status and comorbidities, patients identifying as Hispanic (hazard ratio, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.61-0.98; P = .03) or non-Hispanic Black (hazard ratio, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.55-0.87; P = .002) had slightly improved survival compared with non-Hispanic White patients. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cohort study of patients with COVID-19 who presented for care at the same urban medical center, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients did not experience worse risk-adjusted outcomes compared with their White counterparts. This finding is important for understanding the observed population differences in mortality by race/ethnicity reported elsewhere. | JAMA Netw Open | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3210 | Well-aerated Lung on Admitting Chest CT to Predict Adverse Outcome in COVID-19 Pneumonia BACKGROUND: Computed tomography (CT) of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease depicts the extent of lung involvement in COVID-19 pneumonia. PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to determine the value of quantification of the well-aerated lung obtained at baseline chest CT for determining prognosis in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent chest CT suspected for COVID-19 pneumonia at the emergency department admission between February 17 to March 10, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with negative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2 in nasal-pharyngeal swabs, negative chest CT, and incomplete clinical data were excluded. CT was analyzed for quantification of well aerated lung visually (%V-WAL) and by open-source software (%S-WAL and absolute volume, VOL-WAL). Clinical parameters included demographics, comorbidities, symptoms and symptom duration, oxygen saturation and laboratory values. Logistic regression was used to evaluate relationship between clinical parameters and CT metrics versus patient outcome (ICU admission/death vs. no ICU admission/ death). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated to determine model performance. RESULTS: The study included 236 patients (females 59/123, 25%; median age, 68 years). A %V-WAL<73% (OR, 5.4; 95% CI, 2.7-10.8; P<0.001), %S-WAL<71% (OR, 3.8; 95% CI, 1.9-7.5; P<0.001), and VOL-WAL<2.9 L (OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.2-5.8; P<0.01) were predictors of ICU admission/death. In comparison with clinical model containing only clinical parameters (AUC, 0.83), all three quantitative models showed higher diagnostic performance (AUC 0.86 for all models). The models containing %V-WAL<73% and VOL-WAL<2.9L were superior in terms of performance as compared to the models containing only clinical parameters (P=0.04 for both models). CONCLUSION: In patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia, visual or software quantification the extent of CT lung abnormality were predictors of ICU admission or death. | Radiology | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3211 | Students' perception of online learning amidst the Covid-19 pandemic: A study of junior, senior high school and college students in a remote area Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about many changes in all sectors of life, especially in the field of education. These changes aim to make the learning process more effective in the pandemic environment. However, it can be challenging, as some students do not give positive responses to these changes, especially those in remote areas. This article aims to identify and report students' perceptions about the effectiveness of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in the remote North Tapanuli region of Indonesia. Methods: In this study, data were obtained using an online survey involving 30 students from three levels of education, namely junior high school, senior high school, and college. They are students who the teacher appoints as class administrators; through them, the teacher communicates about everything—learning activities. So compared to his other friends, they know more about the implementation of online learning during the covid 19 pandemic. In addition, schools in remote areas have fewer students than schools in big cities. So we conclude that this research is considered representative with thirty students as the sample. The data gathered from the survey were analyzed using quantitative descriptive methods. Results: Results show that online learning is considered less effective by students in remote areas; this happens because communication networks and infrastructure do not adequately support them to follow online learning. Conclusion: Teachers need to evaluate how to teach as well as re-design models and approaches to be applied in learning. This can be achieved by adjusting to the student’s current situation to generate interest and willingness to learn online. | F1000Res | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3212 | Humoral response to mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with humoral immunodeficiency disease N/A | PLoS One | 2022 | LitCov | |
| 3213 | SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and asymptomatic viral carriage in healthcare workers: a cross-sectional study OBJECTIVE: To determine the rates of asymptomatic viral carriage and seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in healthcare workers. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study of asymptomatic healthcare workers undertaken on 24/25 April 2020. SETTING: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHBFT), UK. PARTICIPANTS: 545 asymptomatic healthcare workers were recruited while at work. Participants were invited to participate via the UHBFT social media. Exclusion criteria included current symptoms consistent with COVID-19. No potential participants were excluded. INTERVENTION: Participants volunteered a nasopharyngeal swab and a venous blood sample that were tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA and anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein antibodies, respectively. Results were interpreted in the context of prior illnesses and the hospital departments in which participants worked. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Proportion of participants demonstrating infection and positive SARS-CoV-2 serology. RESULTS: The point prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 viral carriage was 2.4% (n=13/545). The overall seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 24.4% (n=126/516). Participants who reported prior symptomatic illness had higher seroprevalence (37.5% vs 17.1%, χ(2)=21.1034, p<0.0001) and quantitatively greater antibody responses than those who had remained asymptomatic. Seroprevalence was greatest among those working in housekeeping (34.5%), acute medicine (33.3%) and general internal medicine (30.3%), with lower rates observed in participants working in intensive care (14.8%). BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) ethnicity was associated with a significantly increased risk of seropositivity (OR: 1.92, 95% CI 1.14 to 3.23, p=0.01). Working on the intensive care unit was associated with a significantly lower risk of seropositivity compared with working in other areas of the hospital (OR: 0.28, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.78, p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: We identify differences in the occupational risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 between hospital departments and confirm asymptomatic seroconversion occurs in healthcare workers. Further investigation of these observations is required to inform future infection control and occupational health practices. | Thorax | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3214 | SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccines Elicit Different Responses in Immunologically Naïve and Pre-Immune Humans As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the authorization of vaccines for emergency use has been crucial in slowing down the rate of infection and transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. In order to investigate the longitudinal serological responses to SARS-CoV-2 natural infection and vaccination, a large-scale, multi-year serosurveillance program entitled SPARTA (SARS SeroPrevalence and Respiratory Tract Assessment) was initiated at 4 locations in the U.S. The serological assay presented here measuring IgG binding to the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) detected antibodies elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination with a 95.5% sensitivity and a 95.9% specificity. We used this assay to screen more than 3100 participants and selected 20 previously infected pre-immune and 32 immunologically naïve participants to analyze their antibody binding to RBD and viral neutralization (VN) responses following vaccination with two doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 or the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine. Vaccination not only elicited a more robust immune reaction than natural infection, but the level of neutralizing and anti-RBD antibody binding after vaccination is also significantly higher in pre-immune participants compared to immunologically naïve participants (p<0.0033). Furthermore, the administration of the second vaccination did not further increase the neutralizing or binding antibody levels in pre-immune participants (p=0.69). However, ~46% of the immunologically naïve participants required both vaccinations to seroconvert. | Front Immunol | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3215 | Monitoring of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody immune responses in two cohorts of Hungarian healthcare workers following infection or immunization N/A | Orv Hetil | 2022 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3216 | Older adults with non-communicable chronic conditions and their Healthcare access amid COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh: Findings from a cross-sectional study BACKGROUND: Burgeoning burden of non-communicable disease among older adults is one of the emerging public health problems. In the COVID-19 pandemic, health services in low- and middle-income countries, including Bangladesh, have been disrupted. This may have posed challenges for older adults with non-communicable chronic conditions in accessing essential health care services in the current pandemic. The present study aimed at exploring the challenges experienced by older Bangladeshi adults with non-communicable chronic conditions in receiving regular health care services during the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study followed a cross-sectional design and was conducted among 1032 Bangladeshi older adults aged 60 years and above during October 2020 through telephone interviews. Self-reported information on nine non-communicable chronic conditions (osteoarthritis, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, chronic kidney disease, cancer) was collected. Participants were asked if they faced any difficulties in accessing medicine and receiving routine medical care for their medical conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The association between non-communicable chronic conditions and accessing medication and health care was analysed using binary logic regression model. RESULTS: Most of the participants aged 60–69 years (77.8%), male (65.5%), married (81.4%), had no formal schooling (58.3%) and resided in rural areas (73.9%). Although more than half of the participants (58.9%) reported having a single condition, nearly one-quarter (22.9%) had multimorbidity. About a quarter of the participants reported difficulties accessing medicine (23%) and receiving routine medical care (27%) during the pandemic, and this was significantly higher among those suffering from multimorbidity. In the adjusted analyses, participants with at least one condition (AOR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.33–2.85) and with multimorbidity (AOR: 4.75, 95% CI: 3.17–7.10) had a higher likelihood of experiencing difficulties accessing medicine. Similarly, participants with at least one condition (AOR: 3.08, 95% CI: 2.11–4.89) and with multimorbidity (AOR: 6.34, 95% CI: 4.03–9.05) were significantly more likely to face difficulties receiving routine medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that a sizeable proportion of the older adults had difficulties in accessing medicine and receiving routine medical care during the pandemic. The study findings highlight the need to develop an appropriate health care delivery pathway and strategies to maintain essential health services during any emergencies and beyond. We also argue the need to prioritise the health of older adults with non-communicable chronic conditions in the centre of any emergency response plan and policies of Bangladesh. | PLoS One | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3217 | Adverse Reactions Following the First Dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Vaccine and BNT162b2 Vaccine for Healthcare Workers in South Korea BACKGROUND: We performed a prospective survey on the adverse reactions following the first dose of two types of vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in healthcare workers (HCWs) in South Korea. METHODS: HCWs at a tertiary referral hospital in Seoul, South Korea, received a chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored vaccine (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) or an mRNA-based vaccine (BNT162b2) between March 5 and March 26, 2021. The HCWs were asked to report adverse reactions through a mobile self-report questionnaire for three days after vaccination. RESULTS: A total of 7,625 HCWs received the first dose of ChAdOx1 or BNT162b2 vaccine during the study period. Of them, 5,866 (76.9%) HCWs (ChAdOx1, n = 5,589 [95.3%]; BNT162b2, n = 277 [4.7%]) participated at least once in the survey, of whom 77% were female and 86% were younger than 50 years. The overall adverse reaction rate was 93% in the ChAdOx1 group and 80% in the BNT162b2 group (P < 0.001). Both local and systemic reactions were more commonly reported in the ChAdOx1 group, and the difference was larger in systemic reactions such as fever and fatigue. In the ChAdOx1 group, the incidence of adverse reactions was significantly higher in females and those in the younger age groups, while the BNT162b2 group showed such difference according to age. CONCLUSION: In our prospective survey, vaccine-associated adverse reactions were more commonly reported in the ChAdOx1 group than in the BNT162b2 group. Females and younger age groups experienced vaccine-associated adverse reactions more frequently. | J Korean Med Sci | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3218 | Molecular screening of glycyrrhizin-based inhibitors against ACE2 host receptor of SARS-CoV-2 The interaction between SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is essential to viral attachment and the subsequent fusion process. Interfering with this event represents an attractive avenue for the development of therapeutics and vaccine development. Here, a hybrid approach of ligand- and structure-based virtual screening techniques were employed to disclose similar analogues of a reported antiviral phytochemical, glycyrrhizin, targeting the blockade of ACE2 interaction with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike. A ligand-based similarity search using a stringent cut-off revealed 40 FDA-approved compounds in DrugBank. These filtered hits were screened against ACE2 using a blind docking approach to determine the natural binding tendency of the compounds with ACE2. Three compounds, deslanoside, digitoxin, and digoxin, were reported to show strong binding with ACE2. These compounds bind at the H1-H2 binding pocket, in a manner similar to that of glycyrrhizin which was used as a control. To achieve consistency in the docking results, docking calculations were performed via two sets of docking software that predicted binding energy as ACE2-Deslanoside (AutoDock, −10.3 kcal/mol and DockThor, −9.53 kcal/mol), ACE2-Digitoxin (AutoDock, −10.6 kcal/mol and DockThor, −8.84 kcal/mol), and ACE2-Digoxin (AutoDock, −10.6 kcal/mol and DockThor, −8.81 kcal/mol). The docking results were validated by running molecular simulations in aqueous solution that demonstrated the stability of ACE2 with no major conformational changes in the ligand original binding mode (~ 2 Å average RMSD). Binding interactions remained quite stable with an increased potential for getting stronger as the simulation proceeded. MMGB/PBSA binding free energies were also estimated and these supported the high stability of the complexes compared to the control (~ −50 kcal/mol net MMGB/PBSA binding energy versus ~ −30 kcal/mol). Collectively, the data demonstrated that the compounds shortlisted in this study might be subjected to experimental evaluation to uncover their real blockade capacity of SARS-CoV-2 host ACE2 receptor. [Image: see text] | J Mol Model | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3219 | Inverse correlation between average monthly high temperatures and COVID-19-related death rates in different geographical areas BACKGROUND: With the aim of providing a dynamic evaluation of the effects of basic environmental parameters on COVID-19-related death rate, we assessed the correlation between average monthly high temperatures and population density, with death/rate (monthly number of deaths/1 M people) for the months of March (start of the analysis and beginning of local epidemic in most of the Western World, except in Italy where it started in February) and April 2020 (continuation of the epidemic). Different geographical areas of the Northern Hemisphere in the United States and in Europe were selected in order to provide a wide range among the different parameters. The death rates were gathered from an available dataset. As a further control, we also included latitude, as a proxy for temperature. METHODS: Utilizing a publicly available dataset, we retrieved data for the months of March and April 2020 for 25 areas in Europe and in the US. We computed the monthly number of deaths/1 M people of confirmed COVID-19 cases and calculated the average monthly high temperatures and population density for all these areas. We determined the correlation between number of deaths/1 M people and the average monthly high temperatures, the latitude and the population density. RESULTS: We divided our analysis in two parts: analysis of the correlation among the different variables in the month of March and subsequent analysis in the month of April. The differences were then evaluated. In the month of March there was no statistical correlation between average monthly high temperatures of the considered geographical areas and number of deaths/1 M people. However, a statistically significant inverse correlation became significant in the month of April between average monthly high temperatures (p = 0.0043) and latitude (p = 0.0253) with number of deaths/1 M people. We also observed a statistically significant correlation between population density and number of deaths/1 M people both in the month of March (p = 0.0297) and in the month of April (p = 0.0116), when three areas extremely populated (NYC, Los Angeles and Washington DC) were included in the calculation. Once these three areas were removed, the correlation was not statistically significant (p = 0.1695 in the month of March, and p = 0.7076 in the month of April). CONCLUSIONS: The number of COVID-19-related deaths/1 M people was essentially the same during the month of March for all the geographical areas considered, indicating essentially that the infection was circulating quite uniformly except for Lombardy, Italy, where it started earlier. Lockdown measures were implemented between the end of March and beginning of April, except for Italy which started March 9th. We observed a strong, statistically significant inverse correlation between average monthly high temperatures with the number of deaths/1 M people. We confirmed the data by analyzing the correlation with the latitude, which can be considered a proxy for high temperature. Previous studies indicated a negative effect of high climate temperatures on Sars-COV-2 spreading. Our data indicate that social distancing measure are more successful in the presence of higher average monthly temperatures in reducing COVID-19-related death rate, and a high level of population density seems to negatively impact the effect of lockdown measures. | J Transl Med | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3220 | Telehealth for global emergencies: Implications for COVID-19 The current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is again reminding us of the importance of using telehealth to deliver care, especially as means of reducing the risk of cross-contamination caused by close contact. For telehealth to be effective as part of an emergency response it first needs to become a routinely used part of our health system. Hence, it is time to step back and ask why telehealth is not mainstreamed. In this article, we highlight key requirements for this to occur. Strategies to ensure that telehealth is used regularly in acute, post-acute and emergency situations, alongside conventional service delivery methods, include flexible funding arrangements, training and accrediting our health workforce. Telehealth uptake also requires a significant change in management effort and the redesign of existing models of care. Implementing telehealth proactively rather than reactively is more likely to generate greater benefits in the long-term, and help with the everyday (and emergency) challenges in healthcare. | J Telemed Telecare | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3221 | Willingness to Be Vaccinated against COVID-19 in Spain before the Start of Vaccination: A Cross-Sectional Study Vaccine hesitancy has increased in the past few years, influenced by the socio-cultural differences, political populism, or concerns related to the effectiveness and safety of some vaccines, resulting a feeling of distrust. This feeling can become a barrier against the achievement of the immunity necessary to stop the expansion of COVID-19. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acceptance of the vaccine against COVID-19 in Spain, as well as to identify the factors that have an influence on the concerns and attitudes of people against accepting the vaccine in the months prior to the start of vaccination on December 2020. An online questionnaire was created to obtain information about (1) sociodemographic characteristics; (2) concerns and sources of information about vaccines; and (3) attitudes about vaccination and state of health. A multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify the influencing factors. Of the 2501 participants, 1207 (48.3%) would accept the COVID-19 vaccine, 623 (24.9%) were hesitant, and 671 (26.8%) would reject it. The logistic regression showed that being male, older than 60, married, retired, with a high level of education, or with a leftist political inclination, could increase the probability of accepting the COVID-19 vaccine. Disinformation and the lack of political consensus were the main sources of distrust. The patients with hypertension, immunodepression, hypercholesterolemia, or respiratory disease, or were overweight, showed a greater acceptance to the vaccine, while those with cancer took the longest to accept it. A low acceptance of the vaccine against COVID-19 was observed among the Spanish population in the phase prior to its availability, and the main fears of the population were identified. It is necessary to offer correct and transparent information about these vaccines to reduce the concerns and increase the trust of the population, to thereby guarantee the success of the vaccination campaigns. | Int J Environ Res Public Healt | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3222 | Appropriate attitude promotes mask wearing in spite of a significant experience of varying discomfort BACKGROUND: Despite increasing evidence to support mask effectiveness in mitigating the spread of COVID-19, there is still raging controversy regarding the use of masks. Evaluation of public perceptions, attitudes and the individuals’ experience towards mask-wearing is integral to ensuring reasonable compliance and allows authorities to address concerns held by the population. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of lay-people was conducted within a high volume tertiary level institution in Singapore, from 16 October to 16 November 2020. Surveys administered evaluated five questions: 1) duration of mask wear per day, 2) mask-type used, 3) perceived necessity, 4) discomfort level experienced and 5) causes for discomfort. RESULTS: Out of 402 respondents, 67.2% primarily wore disposable surgical masks. 72% felt mask-wearing was necessary to control COVID-19 transmission. 78.4% reported discomfort while wearing masks, with mean discomfort levels of 4.21 out of 10. Impairment to breathing and communication difficulties were the most common discomforts faced. Younger respondents complained of higher incidence of dermatological issues and sweating (p < 0.05). Respondents who wore masks for longer duration reported higher incidence of dermatological issues (p = 0.001) and sweating (p = 0.032). CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: Even with an available vaccine, adjunctive public health measures such as mask-wearing will likely continue in order to curb COVID-19 transmission. Experience from past pandemics is likely to propagate self-protective behavior within a community. Our study identified several common mask-wearing discomforts, allowing respective organizations valuable market feedback for research and development. With appropriate public attitudes, effective mask-wearing compliance can be attained in a concerted effort against the coronavirus. | Infect Dis Health | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3223 | Internet Hospitals Help Prevent and Control the Epidemic of COVID-19 in China: Multicenter User Profiling Study BACKGROUND: During the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), internet hospitals in China were engaged with epidemic prevention and control, offering epidemic-related online services and medical support to the public. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to explore the role of internet hospitals during the prevention and control of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. METHODS: Online epidemic-related consultations from multicenter internet hospitals in China during the COVID-19 epidemic were collected. The counselees were described and classified into seven type groups. Symptoms were recorded and compared with reported patients with COVID-19. Hypochondriacal suspicion and offline visit motivation were detected within each counselees’ group to evaluate the social panic of the epidemic along with the consequent medical-seeking behaviors. The counselees’ motivation and the doctors’ recommendation for an offline visit were compared. Risk factors affecting the counselees’ tendency of hypochondriacal suspicion and offline visit motivation were explored by logistic regression models. The epidemic prevention and control measures based on internet hospitals were listed, and the corresponding effects were discussed. RESULTS: A total of 4913 consultations were enrolled for analysis with the median age of the counselees at 28 years (IQR 22-33 years). There were 104 (2.12%) healthy counselees, 147 (2.99%) hypochondriacal counselees, 34 (0.69%) exposed counselees, 853 (17.36%) mildly suspicious counselees, 42 (0.85%) moderately suspicious counselees, 3550 (72.26%) highly suspicious counselees, and 183 (3.72%) severely suspicious counselees. A total of 94.20% (n=4628) of counselees had epidemic-related symptoms with a distribution similar to those of COVID-19. The hypochondriacal suspicion (n=2167, 44.11%) was common. The counselees’ motivation and the doctors’ recommendation for offline visits were inconsistent (P<.001) with a Cohen kappa score of 0.039, indicating improper medical-seeking behaviors. Adult counselees (odds ratio [OR]=1.816, P<.001) with epidemiological exposure (OR 7.568, P<.001), shortness of breath (OR 1.440, P=.001), diarrhea (OR 1.272, P=.04), and unrelated symptoms (OR 1.509, P<.001) were more likely to have hypochondriacal suspicion. Counselees with severe illnesses (OR 2.303, P<.001), fever (OR 1.660, P<.001), epidemiological exposure history (OR 1.440, P=.01), and hypochondriacal suspicion (OR 4.826, P<.001) were more likely to attempt an offline visit. Reattending counselees (OR 0.545, P=.002) were less motivated to go to the offline clinic. CONCLUSIONS: Internet hospitals can serve different types of epidemic counselees, offer essential medical supports to the public during the COVID-19 outbreak, reduce the social panic, promote social distancing, enhance the public’s ability of self-protection, correct improper medical-seeking behaviors, reduce the chance of nosocomial cross-infection, and facilitate epidemiological screening, thus, playing an important role on preventing and controlling COVID-19. | J Med Internet Res | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3224 | Safety and immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 variant mRNA vaccine boosters in healthy adults: an interim analysis The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) and variants of interest (VOIs) with decreased susceptibility to neutralization has generated interest in assessments of booster doses and variant-specific vaccines. Clinical trial participants who received a two-dose primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine mRNA-1273 approximately 6 months earlier entered an open-label phase 2a study (NCT04405076) to evaluate the primary objectives of safety and immunogenicity of a single booster dose of mRNA-1273 or variant-modified mRNAs, including multivalent mRNA-1273.211. As the trial is currently ongoing, this exploratory interim analysis includes preliminary descriptive results only of four booster groups (n = 20 per group). Immediately before the booster dose, neutralizing antibodies against wild-type D614G virus had waned (P < 0.0001) relative to peak titers against wild-type D614G measured 1 month after the primary series, and neutralization titers against B.1.351 (Beta), P.1 (Gamma) and B.1.617.2 (Delta) VOCs were either low or undetectable. Both the mRNA-1273 booster and variant-modified boosters were safe and well-tolerated. All boosters, including mRNA-1273, numerically increased neutralization titers against the wild-type D614G virus compared to peak titers against wild-type D614G measured 1 month after the primary series; significant increases were observed for mRNA-1273 and mRNA-1273.211 (P < 0.0001). In addition, all boosters increased neutralization titers against key VOCs and VOIs, including B.1.351, P.1. and B.1.617.2, that were statistically equivalent to peak titers measured after the primary vaccine series against wild-type D614G virus, with superior titers against some VOIs. This trial is ongoing. | Nat Med | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3225 | Estimating the asymptomatic proportion of COVID-19 cases on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, Yokohama, Japan, 2020 On 5 February 2020, in Yokohama, Japan, a cruise ship hosting 3,711 people underwent a 2-week quarantine after a former passenger was found with COVID-19 post-disembarking. As at 20 February, 634 persons on board tested positive for the causative virus. We conducted statistical modelling to derive the delay-adjusted asymptomatic proportion of infections, along with the infections’ timeline. The estimated asymptomatic proportion was 17.9% (95% credible interval (CrI): 15.5–20.2%). Most infections occurred before the quarantine start. | Euro Surveill | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3226 | Psychological distress among Ethiopian migrant returnees who were in quarantine in the context of COVID-19: institution-based cross-sectional study BACKGROUND: In association with the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many numbers of Ethiopian migrants are returning to their home country, and they are required to stay in mandatory quarantine centers. This results in severe disruptions of life routines, social isolation, and loss of freedom. Studies on psychological distress among Ethiopian migrant returnees in the context of COVID-19 are scarce. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of psychological distress and associated factors among migrant returnees who were in quarantine during the time of COVID-19. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 405 migrant returnees recruited from quarantine centers in Addis Ababa. We developed a structured questionnaire to collect data on sociodemographic, migration related, quarantine related and COVID-19 related characteristics of participants. We used the 21 item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale to assess psychological distress. Univariate and multivariable negative binomial regression models were fitted to assess the association between exposure variables with depression, anxiety and stress separately. RESULTS: A little more than half of the participants (55%) had depressive symptoms; around half had anxiety symptoms (48.9%) and more than a third (35.6%) experienced symptoms of stress. We found significantly higher prevalence of anxiety (ARR = 0.59; 95% CI = 0.39, 0.91) and depressive symptoms (ARR = 0.56; 95% CI = 0.39, 0.81) among women than men. Fear of discrimination after the quarantine was significantly associated with depressive (ARR = 0.76; 95% CI = 0.63, 0.92) and anxiety symptoms (ARR = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.62, 0.97). Experiencing COVID-19 like symptoms is associated with depressive (ARR = 0.40; 95% CI = 0.25, 0.65), anxiety (ARR = 0.35; 95% CI = 0.20, 0.62) and stress symptoms (ARR = 0.43; 95% CI = 0.28, 0.66). Have no a plan of what to do after the quarantine (ARR = 1.30; 95% CI = 1.09, 1.54) was significantly associated with increasing stress scores. CONCLUSIONS: We found a very high prevalence of depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms among Ethiopian migrant returnees who were in quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Screening, integration of mental health services with other socioeconomic and psychosocial services, and effective and efficient referral may be useful to address the burden of psychological distress in this group. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-021-03429-2. | BMC Psychiatry | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3227 | The report from ASFA COVID-19 taskforce: Considerations and prioritization on apheresis procedures during the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus disease pandemic Since vaccination for SARS‐CoV‐2 coronavirus started, the trajectory of patient numbers infected with the virus has improved once; however, variants of SARS‐CoV‐2 have emerged and more people have been infected; therefore, pandemic status is still far from resolution. Government and social efforts to prevent coronavirus infection continue in most states in the US and globally even after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared some restriction relief for fully vaccinated people in March 2021. Healthcare institutions and various professional organizations have developed guidelines or policies to prevent the spread of these coronaviruses in the setting of apheresis. In this report, the issues that apheresis services may encounter under the current COVID‐19 (SARS‐CoV‐2 coronavirus disease) pandemic will be discussed with potential strategies that can be adapted for efficient and optimum use of apheresis resources. | J Clin Apher | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3228 | Age-dependent effects in the transmission and control of COVID-19 epidemics N/A | Nat Med | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3229 | Novel Predictors of COVID-19 Protective Behaviors Among US Adults: Cross-sectional Survey BACKGROUND: A central component of the public health strategy to control the COVID-19 pandemic involves encouraging mask wearing and social distancing to protect individuals from acquiring and transmitting the virus. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to understand the psychological factors that drive adoption or rejection of these protective behaviors, which can inform public health interventions to control the pandemic. METHODS: We conducted an online survey of a representative sample of 1074 US adults and assessed three novel potential predictors of COVID-19 behaviors: trait reactance, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, and COVID-19 apocalypse beliefs. Key outcomes (dependent variables) included an index of COVID-19 protective behaviors, the number of trips taken from the home, and COVID-19 knowledge. RESULTS: In bivariate analyses, all three predictors were significantly correlated in the hypothesized direction with the three COVID-19 outcomes. Specifically, each predictor was negatively (P<.01) correlated with the COVID-19 protective behaviors index and COVID-19 knowledge score, and positively correlated with trips taken from home per week (more of which was considered higher risk). COVID-19 protective behaviors and COVID-19 knowledge were significantly lower in the top median compared to the bottom median for all three predictors. In general, these findings remained significant after adjusting for all novel predictors plus age, gender, income, education, race, political party, and religiosity. Self-identified Republicans (vs other political affiliations) reported the highest values for each of the novel predictors. CONCLUSIONS: This study can inform the development of health communication interventions to encourage the adoption of COVID-19 protective behaviors. Interestingly, we found that higher scores of all three novel predictors were associated with lower COVID-19 knowledge, suggesting that lack of an accurate understanding of the virus may be driving some of these attitudes; although, it is also possible that these attributes may interfere with one’s willingness or ability to seek and absorb accurate health information. These individuals may be particularly immune to accepting new information and yielding their beliefs. Health communication professionals may apply lessons learned from countering similar beliefs around climate change and vaccine hesitancy. Messages designed for individuals prone to reactance may be more effective if they minimize controlling language and emphasize the individual’s independence in adopting these behavioral recommendations. Messaging for those who possess conspiracy beliefs should similarly not assume that providing evidence contrary to these beliefs will alone alter behavior. Other communication techniques such as rolling with resistance, a strategy used in motivational interviewing, may be helpful. Messaging for those with apocalyptic beliefs may require using religious leaders as the message source and using scripture that would support the adoption of COVID-19 protection behaviors. | J Med Internet Res | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3230 | Socio-Demographic Factors Associated With COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Middle-Aged Adults During the Quebec's Vaccination Campaign INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to characterize the combinations of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics associated to the unwillingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccines during the 2021 Quebec's vaccination campaign. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In March-June 2021, we conducted an online survey of the participants of the CARTaGENE population-based cohort, composed of middle-aged and older adults. After comparing the vaccinated and unvaccinated participants, we investigated vaccine hesitancy among participants who were unvaccinated. For identifying homogeneous groups of individuals with respect to vaccine hesitancy, we used a machine learning approach based on a hybrid tree-based model. RESULTS: Among the 6,105 participants of the vaccine cohort, 3,553 (58.2%) had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Among the 2,552 participants, 221 (8.7%) did not want to be vaccinated (91) or were uncertain (130). The median age for the unvaccinated participants was 59.3 years [IQR 54.7–63.9]. The optimal hybrid tree-based model identified seven groups. Individuals having a household income lower than $100,000 and being born outside of Canada had the highest rate of vaccine hesitancy (28% [95% CI 19.8–36.3]). For those born in Canada, the vaccine hesitancy rate among the individuals who have a household income below $50,000 before the pandemic or are Non-retired was of 12.1% [95% CI 8.7–15.5] and 10.6% [95% CI 7.6–13.7], respectively. For the participants with a high household income before the pandemic (more than $100,000) and a low level of education, those who experienced a loss of income during the pandemic had a high level of hesitancy (19.2% [8.5–29.9]) whereas others who did not experience a loss of income had a lower level of hesitancy (6.0% [2.8–9.2]). For the other groups, the level of hesitancy was low of around 3% (3.2% [95% CI 1.9–4.4] and 3.4% [95% CI 1.5–5.2]). DISCUSSION: Public health initiatives to tackle vaccine hesitancy should take into account these socio-economic determinants and deliver personalized messages toward people having socio-economic difficulties and/or being part of socio-cultural minorities. | Front Public Health | 2022 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3231 | Transmission dynamics and mutational prevalence of the novel Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 Omicron Variant of Concern The novel Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) variant, Omicron (PANGO lineage B.1.1.529) is being reported from all around the world. The WHO has categorized Omicron as a Variant of Concern (VOC) considering its higher transmissibility and infectivity, vaccine breakthrough cases. As of January 6, 2022, Omicron has been reported in at least 149 countries. Therefore, this study was planned to investigate the transmission dynamics and mutational prevalence of the novel SARS‐CoV‐2 Omicron variant. The transmission dynamics and Omicron SARS‐CoV‐2 divergence was studied using GISAID and Nextstrain which provides information about the genetic sequences, epidemiological, geographical, and species‐specific data of human, avian, and animal viruses. Further, the mutation prevalence in spike glycoprotein of Omicron was studied, and the frequency of the crucial mutations was compared with the other prevalent VOCs. The transmission dynamics suggest that the Omicron was first identified in South Africa and then it was reported in the United Kingdom followed by the United States and Australia. Further, our phylogenetic analysis suggests that Omicron (BA.1) was clustered distinctly from the other VOCs. In the Spike glycoprotein, the Omicron (B.1.1.529) demonstrates critical 32 amino acid changes. This study may help us to understand mutational hotspots, transmission dynamics, phylogenetic divergence, effect on testing and immunity, which shall promote the progress of the clinical application and basic research. | J Med Virol | 2022 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3232 | First diagnosis of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura after SARS-CoV-2 vaccine-case report BACKGROUND: We report a case of a 25-year-old male patient, who developed acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (aTTP) after receiving a first dose of mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine Spikevax (mRNA-1273, Moderna Biotech, USA). While this is the first case in literature describing a case of aTTP after receiving the Spikevax vaccine, there are two other cases after mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine and two after adenoviral SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient presented with persisting malaise, fever, headache, word-finding difficulties, nausea, vomiting, petechial bleeding, and hematuria 13 days after receiving a first dose of vaccination. Laboratory testing showed low platelet count, Coombs-negative hemolytic anemia, and mild acute kidney injury. We excluded vaccine induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) as another important differential diagnosis and the final diagnosis was established after ADAMTS-13 (A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase with a ThromboSpondin type 1 motif, member 13) activity was found to be < 1% (reference range > 40%) and ADAMTS-13 antibodies being 72.2 IU/L (reference range < 12 IU/L). We initiated empiric therapy of plasmapheresis and corticosteroids on admission and started caplacizumab the day after. The patient’s thrombocyte count normalized 3 days after admission, hemolysis and acute kidney injury resolved after 2 weeks. The patient received 2 doses of rituximab (1 g each) after the diagnosis of immune TTP was established. One month after the initial presentation, the patient is in good overall condition, but still receives daily caplacizumab due to ADAMTS-13 activity of < 1%. CONCLUSIONS: Low platelet count after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 has gained attraction after vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) has been described as a rare but severe complication of adenoviral-based vaccines. Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is an important differential diagnosis, but there are only few reports of TTP following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Despite pathophysiological and clinical differences of both entities, diagnostic uncertainty can result in the acute setting, since they share main symptoms such as headache and neurological alterations in addition to thrombocytopenia. In difference to other cases reported, this patient developed first symptoms of TTP as early as 4 days after vaccination, which suggests that vaccination merely acted as trigger for occult TTP, instead of truly inducing an autoimmunological process. | BMC Nephrol | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3233 | The psychological impact of the SARS epidemic on hospital employees in China: exposure, risk perception and altruistic acceptance of risk N/A | Can J Psychiatry | 2009 | CORD-19 | |
| 3234 | Coronavirus Goes Viral: Quantifying the COVID-19 Misinformation Epidemic on Twitter Background Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, misinformation has been spreading uninhibited over traditional and social media at a rapid pace. We sought to analyze the magnitude of misinformation that is being spread on Twitter (Twitter, Inc., San Francisco, CA) regarding the coronavirus epidemic. Materials and methods We conducted a search on Twitter using 14 different trending hashtags and keywords related to the COVID-19 epidemic. We then summarized and assessed individual tweets for misinformation in comparison to verified and peer-reviewed resources. Descriptive statistics were used to compare terms and hashtags, and to identify individual tweets and account characteristics. Results The study included 673 tweets. Most tweets were posted by informal individuals/groups (66%), and 129 (19.2%) belonged to verified Twitter accounts. The majority of included tweets contained serious content (91.2%); 548 tweets (81.4%) included genuine information pertaining to the COVID-19 epidemic. Around 70% of the tweets tackled medical/public health information, while the others were pertaining to sociopolitical and financial factors. In total, 153 tweets (24.8%) included misinformation, and 107 (17.4%) included unverifiable information regarding the COVID-19 epidemic. The rate of misinformation was higher among informal individual/group accounts (33.8%, p: <0.001). Tweets from unverified Twitter accounts contained more misinformation (31.0% vs 12.6% for verified accounts, p: <0.001). Tweets from healthcare/public health accounts had the lowest rate of unverifiable information (12.3%, p: 0.04). The number of likes and retweets per tweet was not associated with a difference in either false or unverifiable content. The keyword “COVID-19” had the lowest rate of misinformation and unverifiable information, while the keywords “#2019_ncov” and “Corona” were associated with the highest amount of misinformation and unverifiable content respectively. Conclusions Medical misinformation and unverifiable content pertaining to the global COVID-19 epidemic are being propagated at an alarming rate on social media. We provide an early quantification of the magnitude of misinformation spread and highlight the importance of early interventions in order to curb this phenomenon that endangers public safety at a time when awareness and appropriate preventive actions are paramount. | Cureus | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3235 | A Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 has become a major global public health burden, currently causing a rapidly growing number of infections and significant morbidity and mortality around the world. Early detection with fast and sensitive assays and timely intervention are crucial for interrupting the spread of the COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2). Using a mismatch-tolerant amplification technique, we developed a simple, rapid, sensitive and visual reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for SARS-CoV-2 detection based on its N gene. The assay has a high specificity and sensitivity, and robust reproducibility, and its results can be monitored using a real-time PCR machine or visualized via colorimetric change from red to yellow. The limit of detection (LOD) of the assay is 118.6 copies of SARS-CoV-2 RNA per 25 μL reaction. The reaction can be completed within 30 min for real-time fluorescence monitoring, or 40 min for visual detection when the template input is more than 200 copies per 25 μL reaction. To evaluate the viability of the assay, a comparison between the RT-LAMP and a commercial RT-qPCR assay was made using 56 clinical samples. The SARS-CoV-2 RT-LAMP assay showed perfect agreement in detection with the RT-qPCR assay. The newly-developed SARS-CoV-2 RT-LAMP assay is a simple and rapid method for COVID-19 surveillance. | Int J Mol Sci | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3236 | Factors linked to severe outcomes in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) in the USA: a retrospective surveillance study BACKGROUND: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a newly identified and serious health condition associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Clinical manifestations vary widely among patients with MIS-C, and the aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with severe outcomes. METHODS: In this retrospective surveillance study, patients who met the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) case definition for MIS-C (younger than 21 years, fever, laboratory evidence of inflammation, admitted to hospital, multisystem [≥2] organ involvement [cardiac, renal, respiratory, haematological, gastrointestinal, dermatological, or neurological], no alternative plausible diagnosis, and either laboratory confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR, serology, or antigen test, or known COVID-19 exposure within 4 weeks before symptom onset) were reported from state and local health departments to the CDC using standard case-report forms. Factors assessed for potential links to severe outcomes included pre-existing patient factors (sex, age, race or ethnicity, obesity, and MIS-C symptom onset date before June 1, 2020) and clinical findings (signs or symptoms and laboratory markers). Logistic regression models, adjusted for all pre-existing factors, were used to estimate odds ratios between potential explanatory factors and the following outcomes: intensive care unit (ICU) admission, shock, decreased cardiac function, myocarditis, and coronary artery abnormalities. FINDINGS: 1080 patients met the CDC case definition for MIS-C and had symptom onset between March 11 and Oct 10, 2020. ICU admission was more likely in patients aged 6–12 years (adjusted odds ratio 1·9 [95% CI 1·4–2·6) and patients aged 13–20 years (2·6 [1·8–3·8]), compared with patients aged 0–5 years, and more likely in non-Hispanic Black patients, compared with non-Hispanic White patients (1·6 [1·0–2·4]). ICU admission was more likely for patients with shortness of breath (1·9 [1·2–2·9]), abdominal pain (1·7 [1·2–2·7]), and patients with increased concentrations of C-reactive protein, troponin, ferritin, D-dimer, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal pro B-type BNP, or interleukin-6, or reduced platelet or lymphocyte counts. We found similar associations for decreased cardiac function, shock, and myocarditis. Coronary artery abnormalities were more common in male patients (1·5 [1·1–2·1]) than in female patients and patients with mucocutaneous lesions (2·2 [1·3–3·5]) or conjunctival injection (2·3 [1·4–3·7]). INTERPRETATION: Identification of important demographic and clinical characteristics could aid in early recognition and prompt management of severe outcomes for patients with MIS-C. FUNDING: None. | Lancet Child Adolesc Health | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3237 | Evaluation of a Visually-Read Rapid Antigen Test Kit (SGA V-Chek) for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Virus N/A | Mikrobiyol Bul | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3238 | Multiorgan impairment in low-risk individuals with post-COVID-19 syndrome: a prospective, community-based study OBJECTIVE: To assess medium-term organ impairment in symptomatic individuals following recovery from acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. DESIGN: Baseline findings from a prospective, observational cohort study. SETTING: Community-based individuals from two UK centres between 1 April and 14 September 2020. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals ≥18 years with persistent symptoms following recovery from acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and age-matched healthy controls. INTERVENTION: Assessment of symptoms by standardised questionnaires (EQ-5D-5L, Dyspnoea-12) and organ-specific metrics by biochemical assessment and quantitative MRI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Severe post-COVID-19 syndrome defined as ongoing respiratory symptoms and/or moderate functional impairment in activities of daily living; single-organ and multiorgan impairment (heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas, spleen) by consensus definitions at baseline investigation. RESULTS: 201 individuals (mean age 45, range 21–71 years, 71% female, 88% white, 32% healthcare workers) completed the baseline assessment (median of 141 days following SARS-CoV-2 infection, IQR 110–162). The study population was at low risk of COVID-19 mortality (obesity 20%, hypertension 7%, type 2 diabetes 2%, heart disease 5%), with only 19% hospitalised with COVID-19. 42% of individuals had 10 or more symptoms and 60% had severe post-COVID-19 syndrome. Fatigue (98%), muscle aches (87%), breathlessness (88%) and headaches (83%) were most frequently reported. Mild organ impairment was present in the heart (26%), lungs (11%), kidneys (4%), liver (28%), pancreas (40%) and spleen (4%), with single-organ and multiorgan impairment in 70% and 29%, respectively. Hospitalisation was associated with older age (p=0.001), non-white ethnicity (p=0.016), increased liver volume (p<0.0001), pancreatic inflammation (p<0.01), and fat accumulation in the liver (p<0.05) and pancreas (p<0.01). Severe post-COVID-19 syndrome was associated with radiological evidence of cardiac damage (myocarditis) (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In individuals at low risk of COVID-19 mortality with ongoing symptoms, 70% have impairment in one or more organs 4 months after initial COVID-19 symptoms, with implications for healthcare and public health, which have assumed low risk in young people with no comorbidities. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04369807; Pre-results. | BMJ Open | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3239 | High affinity binding of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein enhances ACE2 carboxypeptidase activity The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged to a pandemic and caused global public health crisis. Human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2(ACE2) was identified as the entry receptor for SARS-CoV-2. As a carboxypeptidase, ACE2 cleaves many biological substrates besides angiotensin II to control vasodilatation and vascular permeability. Given the nanomolar high affinity between ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, we investigated how this interaction would affect the enzymatic activity of ACE2. Surprisingly, SARS-CoV-2 trimeric spike protein increased ACE2 proteolytic activity ∼3-10 fold against model peptide substrates, such as caspase-1 substrate and Bradykinin-analog. The enhancement in ACE2 enzymatic function was mediated by the binding of SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD domain. These results highlighted the potential for SARS-CoV-2 infection to enhance ACE2 activity, which may be relevant to the cardiovascular symptoms associated with COVID-19. | J Biol Chem | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3240 | Leaving no stone unturned in light of the COVID-19 faecal-oral hypothesis? A water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) perspective targeting low-income countries Abstract The human coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is now a global pandemic. Social distancing, hand hygiene and the use of personal protective equipment dominate the current fight against COVID-19. In developing countries, the need for clean water provision, sanitation and hygiene have only received limited attention. The current perspective examines the latest evidence, on the occurrence, persistence and faecal-oral transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent for COVID-19. Evidence shows that SARS-CoV-2 proliferate in the human gastrointestinal system, and is shed via faeces. SARS-CoV-2 can survive and remain viable for up to 6 to 9 days on surfaces. Recent wastewater-based epidemiological studies from several countries also detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA in raw wastewaters. Shell disorder analysis show that SARS-CoV-2 has a rigid outer shell conferring resilience, and a low shell disorder conferring moderate potential for faecal-oral transmission. Taken together, these findings point to potential faecal-oral transmission of SARS-CoV-2, which may partly explain its rapid transmission. Three potential mechanisms may account for SARS-CoV-2 faecal-oral transmission: (1) untreated contaminated drinking water, (2) raw and poorly cooked marine and aquatic foods from contaminated sources, and also raw wastewater-based irrigation (e.g., salads) and aquaculture, and (3) vector-mediated transmission from faecal sources to foods, particularly those from open markets and street vending. SARS-CoV-2 faecal-oral transmission could be particularly high in developing countries due to several risk factors, including; (1) poor drinking water, wastewater and sanitation infrastructure, (2) poor hygiene and food handling practices, (3) unhygienic and rudimentary funeral practices, including home burials close to drinking water sources, and (4) poor social and health care systems with low capacity to cope with disease outbreaks. Hence, clean drinking water provision, proper sanitation, food safety and hygiene could be critical in the current fight against COVID-19. Future research directions on COVID-19 faecal-oral transmission are highlighted. | Sci Total Environ | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3241 | Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical radiography practice in low resource settings: The Ghanaian radiographers' perspective Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the professional practice of all healthcare workers, including radiographers. In the pandemic, clinical practice of radiographers was centred mostly on chest imaging of COVID-19 patients and radiotherapy treatment care delivery to those with cancer. This study aimed to assess the radiographers’ perspective on the impact of the pandemic on their wellbeing and imaging service delivery in Ghana. Methods A cross-sectional survey of practising radiographers in Ghana was conducted online from March 26th to May 6th, 2020. A previously validated questionnaire that sought information regarding demographics, general perspectives on personal and professional impact of the pandemic was used as the research instrument. Data obtained was analysed using Microsoft Excel® 2016. Results A response rate of 57.3% (134/234) was obtained. Of the respondents, 75.4% (n=101) reported to have started experiencing high levels of workplace-related stress after the outbreak. Three-quarters (n=98, 73.1%) of respondents reported limited access to any form of psychosocial support systems at work during the study period. Half (n=67, 50%) of the respondents reported a decline in general workload during the study period while only a minority (n=18, 13.4%) reported an increase in workload due to COVID-19 cases. Conclusion This national survey indicated that majority of the workforce started experiencing coronavirus-specific workplace-related stress after the outbreak. Albeit speculative, low patient confidence and fear of contracting the COVID-19 infection on hospital attendance contributed to the decline in general workload during the study period. Implications for practice In order to mitigate the burden of workplace-related stress on frontline workers, including radiographers, and in keeping to standard practices for staff mental wellbeing and patient safety, institutional support structures are necessary in similar future pandemics. | Radiography (Lond) | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3242 | A Novel Therapeutic Peptide Blocks SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Binding with Host Cell ACE2 Receptor BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease 2019 is a novel disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 virus. It was first detected in December 2019 and has since been declared a pandemic causing millions of deaths worldwide. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop effective therapeutics against coronavirus disease 2019. A critical step in the crosstalk between the virus and the host cell is the binding of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to the peptidase domain of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor present on the surface of host cells. METHODS: An in silico approach was employed to design a 13-amino acid peptide inhibitor (13AApi) against the RBD of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Its binding specificity for RBD was confirmed by molecular docking using pyDockWEB, ClusPro 2.0, and HDOCK web servers. The stability of 13AApi and the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein complex was determined by molecular dynamics simulation using the GROMACS program while the physicochemical and ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity) properties of 13AApi were determined using the ExPASy tool and pkCSM server. Finally, in vitro validation of the inhibitory activity of 13AApi against the spike protein was performed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: In silico analyses indicated that the 13AApi could bind to the RBD of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein at the ACE2 binding site with high affinity. In vitro experiments validated the in silico findings, showing that 13AApi could significantly block the RBD of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. CONCLUSIONS: Blockage of binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with ACE2 in the presence of the 13AApi may prevent virus entry into host cells. Therefore, the 13AApi can be utilized as a promising therapeutic agent to combat coronavirus disease 2019. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40268-021-00357-0. | Drugs R D | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3243 | Effectiveness of an inactivated virus-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, BBV152, in India: a test-negative, case-control study BACKGROUND: BBV152 is a whole-virion inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that has been deployed in India. The results of the phase 3 trial have shown clinical efficacy of BBV152. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of BBV152 against symptomatic RT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. METHODS: We conducted a test-negative, case-control study among employees of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, India), who had symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 and had an RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 during the peak of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India between April 15 and May 15, 2021. Cases (test-positives) and controls (test-negatives) were matched (1:1) on the basis of age and gender. The odds of vaccination with BBV152 were compared between cases and controls and adjusted for level of occupational exposure (to COVID-19), previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, and calendar time, using conditional logistic regression. The primary outcome was effectiveness of two doses of BBV152 (with the second dose received at least 14 days before testing) in reducing the odds of symptomatic RT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, expressed as (1 – odds ratio) × 100%. FINDINGS: Between April 15 and May 15, 2021, 3732 individuals had an RT-PCR test. Of these, 2714 symptomatic employees had data on vaccination status, and 1068 matched case-control pairs were available for analysis. The adjusted effectiveness of BBV152 against symptomatic COVID-19 after two doses administered at least 14 days before testing was 50% (95% CI 33–62; p<0·0001). The adjusted effectiveness of two doses administered at least 28 days before testing was 46% (95% CI 22–62) and administered at least 42 days before testing was 57% (21–76). After excluding participants with previous SARS-CoV-2 infections, the adjusted effectiveness of two doses administered at least 14 days before testing was 47% (95% CI 29–61). INTERPRETATION: This study shows the effectiveness of two doses of BBV152 against symptomatic COVID-19 in the context of a huge surge in cases, presumably dominated by the potentially immune-evasive delta (B.1.617.2) variant of SARS-CoV-2. Our findings support the ongoing roll-out of this vaccine to help control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, while continuing the emphasis on adherence to non-pharmacological measures. FUNDING: None. TRANSLATION: For the Hindi translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section. | Lancet Infect Dis | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3244 | Understanding South Korea's Response to the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Real-Time Analysis This case study focuses on the epidemiological situation of the COVID-19 outbreak, its impacts and the measures South Korea undertook during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the first case was confirmed on 20 January 2020, South Korea has been actively experiencing the COVID-19 outbreak. In the early stage of the pandemic, South Korea was one of the most-affected countries because of a large outbreak related to meetings of a religious movement, namely the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, in a city called Daegu and North Gyeongsang province. However, South Korea was held as a model for many other countries as it appeared to slow the spread of the outbreak with distinctive approaches and interventions. First of all, with drastic and early intervention strategies it conducted massive tracing and testing in a combination of case isolation. These measures were underpinned by transparent risk communication, civil society mobilization, improvement of accessibility and affordability of the treatment and test, the consistent public message on the potential benefit of wearing a mask, and innovation. Innovative measures include the mobile case-tracing application, mobile self-quarantine safety protection application, mobile self-diagnosis application, and drive-thru screening centres. Meanwhile, the epidemic has brought enormous impacts on society economically and socially. Given its relationship with China, where the outbreak originated, the economic impact in South Korea was predicted to be intense and it was already observed since February due to a decline in exports. The pandemic and measures undertaken by the government also have resulted in social conflicts and debates, human-right concerns, and political tension. Moreover, it was believed that the outbreak of COVID-19 and the governmental responses towards it has brought a huge impact on the general election in April. Despite of the large outbreak in late February, the Korean government has flattened the COVID-19 curve successfully and the downward trend in the number of new cases remained continuously as of 30 April. The most distinctive feature of South Korea’s responses is that South Korea conducted proactive case finding, contacts tracing, and isolations of cases instead of taking traditional measures of the containment of the epidemic such as boarder closures and lockdowns. | Int J Environ Res Public Healt | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3245 | Reactogenicity and Immunogenicity of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccines BACKGROUND: The relationships of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination with reactogenicity and the humoral immune response are important to study. The current study aimed to assess the reactogenicity and immunogenicity of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines among adults in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study, including 365 randomly selected adult Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine recipients who received a homologous prime-boost vaccination between February 1(st) and June 30(th), 2021. Data of height and weight were collected to assess the weight status of percipients. An evaluation of seropositivity for anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies was assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: Among the participants, 69% (n = 250) reported at least one vaccine-related symptom. Pain at the injection site was the most frequently reported vaccine-related symptom. The mean total score for vaccine-related symptoms was significantly higher among participants who received the AstraZeneca vaccine, women, and participants with no previous COVID-19 infection (p < 0.05). Spike-specific IgG antibodies were detected in 98.9% of participants after the receipt of two vaccine doses, including 99.5% of Pfizer vaccine recipients and 98.3% of AstraZeneca vaccine recipients. Significantly, higher proportions of participants in the <35-year age group developed a humoral immune response after the first vaccine dose compared with the participants in other age groups. CONCLUSION: Participants who received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine reported fewer vaccine-related complications compared with those who received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, but no serious side effects were reported in response to either vaccine. Health status and age were factors that may influence COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness for the generation of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. | Front Immunol | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3246 | Patterns of Suicide Ideation Across Eight Countries in Four Continents During the COVID-19 Pandemic Era: Repeated Cross-sectional Study BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and countries’ response measures have had a globally significant mental health impact. This mental health burden has also been fueled by an infodemic: an information overload that includes misinformation and disinformation. Suicide, the worst mental health outcome, is a serious public health problem that can be prevented with timely, evidence-based, and often low-cost interventions. Suicide ideation, one important risk factor for suicide, is thus important to measure and monitor, as are the factors that may impact on it. OBJECTIVE: This investigation had 2 primary aims: (1) to estimate and compare country-specific prevalence of suicide ideation at 2 different time points, overall and by gender and age groups, and (2) to investigate the influence of sociodemographic and infodemic variables on suicide ideation. METHODS: A repeated, online, 8-country (Canada, the United States, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Hong Kong, Philippines, and New Zealand), cross-sectional study was undertaken with adults aged ≥18 years, with measurement wave 1 conducted from May 29, 2020 to June 12, 2020 and measurement wave 2 conducted November 6-18, 2021. Self-reported suicide ideation was derived from item 9 of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Age-standardized suicide ideation rates were reported, a binomial regression model was used to estimate suicide ideation indication rates for each country and measurement wave, and logistic regression models were then employed to relate sociodemographic, pandemic, and infodemic variables to suicide ideation. RESULTS: The final sample totaled 17,833 adults: 8806 (49.4%) from measurement wave 1 and 9027 (50.6%) from wave 2. Overall, 24.2% (2131/8806) and 27.5% (2486/9027) of participants reported suicide ideation at measurement waves 1 and 2, respectively, a difference that was significant (P<.001). Considerable variability was observed in suicide ideation age-standardized rates between countries, ranging from 15.6% in Belgium (wave 1) to 42.9% in Hong Kong (wave 2). Frequent social media usage was associated with increased suicide ideation at wave 2 (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.47, 95% CI 1.25-1.72; P<.001) but not wave 1 (AOR 1.11, 95% CI 0.96-1.23; P=.16). However, having a weaker sense of coherence (SOC; AOR 3.80, 95% CI 3.18-4.55 at wave 1 and AOR 4.39, 95% CI 3.66-5.27 at wave 2; both P<.001) had the largest overall effect size. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide ideation is prevalent and significantly increasing over time in this COVID-19 pandemic era, with considerable variability between countries. Younger adults and those residing in Hong Kong carried disproportionately higher rates. Social media appears to have an increasingly detrimental association with suicide ideation, although having a stronger SOC had a larger protective effect. Policies and promotion of SOC, together with disseminating health information that explicitly tackles the infodemic’s misinformation and disinformation, may importantly reduce the rising mental health morbidity and mortality triggered by this pandemic. | JMIR Public Health Surveill | 2022 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3247 | Association of COVID-19 Vaccination With Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection by Time Since Vaccination and Delta Variant Predominance N/A | JAMA | 2022 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3248 | Health Communication Through News Media During the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Outbreak in China: Digital Topic Modeling Approach BACKGROUND: In December 2019, a few coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases were first reported in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Soon after, increasing numbers of cases were detected in other parts of China, eventually leading to a disease outbreak in China. As this dreadful disease spreads rapidly, the mass media has been active in community education on COVID-19 by delivering health information about this novel coronavirus, such as its pathogenesis, spread, prevention, and containment. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to collect media reports on COVID-19 and investigate the patterns of media-directed health communications as well as the role of the media in this ongoing COVID-19 crisis in China. METHODS: We adopted the WiseSearch database to extract related news articles about the coronavirus from major press media between January 1, 2020, and February 20, 2020. We then sorted and analyzed the data using Python software and Python package Jieba. We sought a suitable topic number with evidence of the coherence number. We operated latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling with a suitable topic number and generated corresponding keywords and topic names. We then divided these topics into different themes by plotting them into a 2D plane via multidimensional scaling. RESULTS: After removing duplications and irrelevant reports, our search identified 7791 relevant news reports. We listed the number of articles published per day. According to the coherence value, we chose 20 as the number of topics and generated the topics’ themes and keywords. These topics were categorized into nine main primary themes based on the topic visualization figure. The top three most popular themes were prevention and control procedures, medical treatment and research, and global or local social and economic influences, accounting for 32.57% (n=2538), 16.08% (n=1258), and 11.79% (n=919) of the collected reports, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Topic modeling of news articles can produce useful information about the significance of mass media for early health communication. Comparing the number of articles for each day and the outbreak development, we noted that mass media news reports in China lagged behind the development of COVID-19. The major themes accounted for around half the content and tended to focus on the larger society rather than on individuals. The COVID-19 crisis has become a worldwide issue, and society has become concerned about donations and support as well as mental health among others. We recommend that future work addresses the mass media’s actual impact on readers during the COVID-19 crisis through sentiment analysis of news data. | J Med Internet Res | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3249 | Nanobiosensors for the Detection of Novel Coronavirus 2019-nCoV and Other Pandemic/Epidemic Respiratory Viruses: A Review The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is considered a public health emergency of international concern. The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that caused this pandemic has spread rapidly to over 200 countries, and has drastically affected public health and the economies of states at unprecedented levels. In this context, efforts around the world are focusing on solving this problem in several directions of research, by: (i) exploring the origin and evolution of the phylogeny of the SARS-CoV-2 viral genome; (ii) developing nanobiosensors that could be highly effective in detecting the new coronavirus; (iii) finding effective treatments for COVID-19; and (iv) working on vaccine development. In this paper, an overview of the progress made in the development of nanobiosensors for the detection of human coronaviruses (SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is presented, along with specific techniques for modifying the surface of nanobiosensors. The newest detection methods of the influenza virus responsible for acute respiratory syndrome were compared with conventional methods, highlighting the newest trends in diagnostics, applications, and challenges of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 causative virus) nanobiosensors. | Sensors (Basel) | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 3250 | Prolonged presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in faecal samples | Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol | 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.