Enhancing the Effectiveness of Surveillance Systems in Pacific Island Countries as Early Warning Systems for Detecting and Responding to COVID-19 Outbreaks: Key Strategies and Recommendations

@#The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has uncovered the need for health systems to be strengthened in order to be able to respond quickly to any potential future outbreaks. In response, the Pacific Syndromic Surveillance System (PSSS) is currently being used by many countries within the Pacific Islands for tracking and addressing infectious disease outbreaks, including COVID-19. To maximise its usefulness as an early warning system, investments must be made in strengthening data quality, data sharing, health facility capacity, technology, and ongoing evaluation of surveillance systems. Doing so will ensure that the PSSS and other surveillance systems can remain effective tools for monitoring and respond to infectious disease outbreaks in the Pacific Islands

Retinal manifestations of ophthalmic artery occlusion with ischemic stroke in a young patient with COVID-19

COVID-19-associated coagulopathy (CAC) has led to an increase in the incidence of large vessel stroke and cryptogenic shock. We present a case of a 30-year-old COVID-19-positive patient who developed an internal carotid artery (ICA) thrombosis, which led to ischemic stroke, aphasia, and unilateral blindness. Ophthalmic artery occlusion (OAO) was found to be the cause of vision loss. We thereby aim to highlight the detailed ophthalmic manifestations of OAO with features of posterior ciliary artery occlusion (PCAO) in this patient with proven ICA thrombosis.

Impacto de la infección por SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) en el tratamiento de una lesión duodenal por arma de fuego / Impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) in the treatment of duodenal gunshot injury

RESUMEN Se presenta el caso clínico de un paciente con traumatismo abdominal por herida de arma de fuego (HAF). En otra institución se realizó cirugía de exclusión pilórica y hepatorrafia por lesión hepatoduo denal. Fue derivado a nuestra institución a las 12 horas posoperatorias. Intercurre en el posoperatorio con neumonía grave por COVID-19 y complicaciones de su cirugía ini cial. La presentación severa de la enfermedad nos inclina por el manejo no operatorio. La utilización de drenajes percutáneos permitió el manejo de colecciones evitando una cirugía mayor inicial. La recuperación pulmonar facilitó la cirugía definitiva. La neumonía severa por COVID-19 en un paciente con lesión duodenal grave por HAF condiciona la toma de decisiones.

ABSTRACT We report the case of a patient with an abdominal gunshot trauma with liver and duodenal injury who underwent pyloric exclusion and liver repair in another institution. The patient was transferred to our institution 12 hours after surgery. During hospitalization, severe pneumonia due to COVID-19 and complications of the initial surgery developed. Non-surgical management was decided due to the severity of the disease. Percutaneous drainage allowed for the management of the collections avoiding a major initial surgery. Once he recovered from the pneumonia, the definite surgery was performed. Severe COVID-19 pneumonia in a patient with serious duodenal shotgun injury is a determining factor for decision-making of treatment options.

Bioactive natural compounds against human coronaviruses: a review and perspective

Coronaviruses (CoVs), a family of enveloped positive-sense RNA viruses, are characterized by club-like spikes that project from their surface, unusually large RNA genome, and unique replication capability. CoVs are known to cause various potentially lethal human respiratory infectious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and the very recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Unfortunately, neither drug nor vaccine has yet been approved to date to prevent and treat these diseases caused by CoVs. Therefore, effective prevention and treatment medications against human coronavirus are in urgent need. In the past decades, many natural compounds have been reported to possess multiple biological activities, including antiviral properties. In this article, we provided a comprehensive review on the natural compounds that interfere with the life cycles of SARS and MERS, and discussed their potential use for the treatment of COVID-19.

COVID-19 and acute pulmonary embolism: what should be considered to indicate a computed tomography pulmonary angiography scan?

Abstract The full spectrum of COVID-19 is still emerging, although several studies have highlighted that patients infected with the novel coronavirus can potentially develop a hypercoagulable state. However, several aspects related to the incidence and pathophysiology of the association between COVID-19 and pulmonary embolism are not well established. Here, we present a case of a patient with COVID-19 who developed acute pulmonary embolism. Clinical and laboratory data and findings of non-enhanced CT indicate possibility of acute pulmonary embolism, and support the decision to proceed with computed tomography pulmonary angiography that can objectively identify filling defects in pulmonary arterial branches.