A Nobel Score to Predict Pediatric Covid-19 Severity in Low and Middle Income Countries

BACKGROUND AND AIM: COVID-19 affects children less seriously than adults;however, severe cases and deaths are documented. This study objective is to determine sociodemographic, clinical and laboratory indicators associated with severe pediatric COVID-19 and mortality at hospital entrance. METHOD(S): A multicenter, retrospective, cross-sectional study was performed in 13 tertiary hospitals in Bolivia. Clinical records were collected retrospectively from patients less than 18 years of age and positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection. All variables were measured at hospital entrance;outcomes of interest were ICU admission and death. A score for disease severity was developed using a logistic regression model. RESULT(S): 209 patients were included in the analysis. By the end of the study, 43 (20.6%) of children were admitted to the Intensive care unit (ICU), and 17 (8.1%) died. Five indicators were independently predictive of COVID-19 severity: age below 10 years OR: 3.3 (CI95%: 1.1 - 10.4), days with symptoms to medical care OR: 2.8 (CI95%: 1.2 - 6.5), breathing difficulty OR: 3.4 (CI95%: 1.4 - 8.2), vomiting OR: 3.3 (CI95%: 1.4 - 7.4), cutaneous lesions OR: 5.6 (CI95%: 1.9 - 16.6). Presence of three or more of these risk factors at hospital entrance predicted severe disease in COVID-19 positive children. Age, presence of underlying illness, male sex, breathing difficulty, and dehydration were predictive of death in COVID-19 children. CONCLUSION(S): Our study identifies several predictors of severe pediatric COVID-19 and death. Incorporating these predictors, we developed a tool that clinicians can use to identify children at high risk of severe COVID-19 in limited resource settings.

Mechanical Rotatory Method of Anticoagulation-Free Hemodialysis Using a Hemodialysis Filter Rotator With the NxStage Hemodialysis Machine: A UVMMC-UVM Burlington VT Research Collaboration Effort

Background: The maintenance of blood fluidity in the extracorporeal circuit during hemodialysis (HD) often requires systemic anticoagulation. While effective, these anticoagulants cause bleeding, have other side effects, cannot be used in critically ill patients and in the peri-operative period, and add to costs. We recently described a novel mecahnical rotational approach to anticoagulation-free HD using the "Locke-Onuigbo" maneuver (Figure 1).1 Methods: Prototype Completion: In collaboration with the University of Vermont Center for Biomedical Innovation (UVM CBI), five Senior Engineering students from the UVM, under the supervision of Yves Dubief PhD, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UVM, the first author and his Home Dialysis Program at the UVM Medical Center, have successfully prototyped an AI-modulated hemodialysis filter rotator that enables anticoagulation-free HD using the NxStage HD machine (Figure 2). Result(s): The Hemodialysis Filter Rotator Prototype running test on the HD machine (Figure 2) Conclusion(s): This Hemodialysis Filter Rotator enhances the capabilities of enabling sustainable Home HD for ESRD patients and represents a most welcome option in a "post-COVID" world and expands the offering of a convenient, safe and effective Home HD option to thousands of patients who prefer this choice of treatment. Moreover, we would argue that our novel prototype will deliver the unmet need for anticoagulation-free HD in critically ill patients, in the peri-operative period, and in hospitalized patients, in general. Investors and sponsors are welcome. (Figure Presented).

“Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Evening”: U.S. Views on the Chinese Professional Baseball League in the Wake of COVID-19

The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) represents Taiwan’s top professional baseball league. Composed of two levels, CPBL entered its 31st season of play on 11 April 2020—delayed by nearly 1 month while Taiwan coped with the global COVID-19 outbreak. Play resumed without live fans (although robotic and holographic fans were placed in the crowd) and players took the field without many of the sights and sounds common to professional baseball. However, viewing from afar were tens of millions of sports-hungry fans, scouring social media and international broadcast outlets to catch a glimpse of the only professional baseball league in action. For nearly 2 months in 2020, CPBL games were broadcast to international audiences, many largely unfamiliar with the league’s history, teams, and sponsors, although baseball fans recognized players with experience in other leagues, such as Major League Baseball. Likewise, the league found itself responding to it newfound immense popularity uncommon for CPBL play, organizing broadcasts in English and working with sports media partners foreign and domestic to meet the seemingly insatiable international demand for Taiwanese baseball. In our chapter, we offer a short history and overview of CPBL (with a specific focus on the CPBL’s prior engagement with international media outlets and fans), the early planning of player competition and international broadcast rights in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the short-term impact of these efforts on both on-field play as well as off-field popularity of the league. The chapter also includes a thematic analysis of English-language sports media and their coverage of the CPBL during April and May 2020. The chapter ends with a retrospective on the league’s performance and an outlook on the long-term impacts of the league’s international exposure. Throughout the chapter, CPBL experiences and actions will be analyzed through myriad sports communication lenses, such as sports fandom and mediasport perspectives. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.