Comparison of the Otolaryngological Symptoms of Laboratory-Confirmed and Clinically Diagnosed COVID-19 Patients.

Objectives: Our aim is to determine prevalence, severity, duration of otorhinolaryngologic symptoms related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and correlation between the test results obtained by oronasopharyngeal swab and the symptoms of these regions by evaluating differences in ear, nose, and throat (ENT) symptoms between laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients and clinically and computed tomography (CT)-diagnosed COVID-19 patients. Methods: The study enrolled patients with a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test diagnosed with COVID-19 that grouped as PCR (+), and those with repeated negative PCR tests but COVID-19 Reporting and Data System (CO-RADS) chest CT findings with high (CO-RADS 5) or very high (CO-RADS 6) similarity to COVID-19 that grouped as PCR(-)/CT(+). Demographic features, general symptoms, and otorhinolaryngological symptoms and severity of disease were evaluated and compared. Results: The most common ENT symptoms in the PCR(+) group were loss of taste (n=77), loss of smell, and sore throat with respective frequencies of 34.5%, 31.8%, 26.0%, and in PCR(-) CT (+) group loss of taste, loss of smell, and sore throat with respective frequencies 24.6%, 21.1%, and 18.4%. ENT symptom rates were found higher in PCR (+) group (65.0%) according to PCR(-)/CT(+) group (49.1%) with statistically significant difference (p=0.008). Loss of smell rates were found higher in PCR (+) group according to PCR(-)/CT(+) group with statistically significant difference (p=0.037). Conclusion: Loss of smell and taste were most common ENT symptoms in laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases. The presence of COVID-19 should definitely be considered in patients presenting with sudden loss of smell or taste. In addition, loss of smell and otolaryngologic symptoms were more common in laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 according to clinically and computed tomograpy diagnosed COVID-19 cases. There can be a correlation between positive sample region and symptom region. Location of symptoms must be considered for decision of sampling location.

Smartphone-Based Multiplexed Biosensing Tools for Health Monitoring.

Many emerging technologies have the potential to improve health care by providing more personalized approaches or early diagnostic methods. In this review, we cover smartphone-based multiplexed sensors as affordable and portable sensing platforms for point-of-care devices. Multiplexing has been gaining attention recently for clinical diagnosis considering certain diseases require analysis of complex biological networks instead of single-marker analysis. Smartphones offer tremendous possibilities for on-site detection analysis due to their portability, high accessibility, fast sample processing, and robust imaging capabilities. Straightforward digital analysis and convenient user interfaces support networked health care systems and individualized health monitoring. Detailed biomarker profiling provides fast and accurate analysis for disease diagnosis for limited sample volume collection. Here, multiplexed smartphone-based assays with optical and electrochemical components are covered. Possible wireless or wired communication actuators and portable and wearable sensing integration for various sensing applications are discussed. The crucial features and the weaknesses of these devices are critically evaluated.

Fluorescent bioassay for SARS-CoV-2 detection using polypyrene-g-poly(ε-caprolactone) prepared by simultaneous photoinduced step-growth and ring-opening polymerizations.

The construction of a rapid and easy immunofluorescence bioassay for SARS-CoV-2 detection is described. We report for the first time a novel one-pot synthetic approach for simultaneous photoinduced step-growth polymerization of pyrene (Py) and ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone (PCL) to produce a graft fluorescent copolymer PPy-g-PCL that was conjugated to SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies using EDC/NHS chemistry. The synthesis steps and conjugation products were fully characterized using standard spectral analysis. Next, the PPy-g-PCL was used for the construction of a dot-blot assay which was calibrated for applications to human nasopharyngeal samples. The analytical features of the proposed sensor showed a detection range of 6.03-8.7 LOG viral copy mL-1 (Ct Scores: 8-25), the limit of detection (LOD), and quantification (LOQ) of 1.84 and 6.16 LOG viral copy mL-1, respectively. The repeatability and reproducibility of the platform had a coefficient of variation (CV) ranging between 1.2 and 5.9%. The fluorescence-based dot-blot assay was tested with human samples. Significant differences were observed between the fluorescence intensity of the negative and positive samples, with an overall correct response of 93.33%. The assay demonstrated a high correlation with RT-PCR data. This strategy opens new insights into simplified synthesis procedures of the reporter molecules and their high potential sensing and diagnosis applications.

Could we predict the prognosis of the COVID-19 disease?

OBJECTIVES: Coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) lead to one of the pandemics of the last century. We aimed to predict poor prognosis among severe patients to lead early intervention. METHODS: The data of 534 hospitalized patients were assessed retrospectively. Risk factors and laboratory tests that might enable the prediction of prognosis defined as being transferred to the intensive care unit and/or exitus have been investigated. RESULTS: At the admission, 398 of 534 patients (74.5%) were mild-moderate ill. It was determined that the male gender, advanced age, and comorbidity were risk factors for severity. To estimate the severity of the disease, receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that the areas under the curve which were determined based on the optimal cut off values that were calculated for the variables of values of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR > 3.69), C-reactive protein (CRP > 46 mg/L), troponin I ( > 5.3 ng/L), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH > 325 U/L), ferritin ( > 303 ug/L), d-dimer ( > 574 µg/L), neutrophil NE ( > 4.99 × 109 /L), lymphocyte (LE < 1.04 × 109 /L), SO2 ( < %92) were 0.762, 0.757,0.742, 0.705, 0.698, 0.694,0.688, 0.678, and 0.66, respectively. To predict mortality, AUC of values for optimal cutoff troponin I ( > 7.4 ng/L), age ( > 62), SO2 ( < %89), urea ( > 40 mg/dL), procalcitonin ( > 0.21 ug/L), CKMB ( > 2.6 ng/L) were 0.715, 0.685, 0.644, 0.632, 0.627, and 0.617, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical progress could be severe if the baseline values of NLR, CRP, troponin I, LDH, are above, and LE is below the specified cut-off point. We found that the troponin I, elder age, and SO2 values could predict mortality.