Food Sources May Affect the Symptom Rates of COVID-19, an Epidemiological Analysis Based on the Public Data in Gansu Province, China, During the Summer Epidemic Cycle in 2022.

According to the public data collected from the Health Commission of Gansu Province, China, regarding the COVID-19 pandemic during the summer epidemic cycle in 2022, the epidemiological analysis showed that the pandemic spread stability and the symptom rate (the number of confirmed cases divided by the sum of the number of asymptomatic cases and the number of confirmed cases) of COVID-19 were different among 3 main epidemic regions, Lanzhou, Linxia, and Gannan; both the symptom rate and the daily instantaneous symptom rate (daily number of confirmed cases divided by the sum of daily number of asymptomatic cases and daily number of confirmed cases) in Lanzhou were substantially higher than those in Linxia and Gannan. The difference in the food sources due to the high difference of the population ethnic composition in the 3 regions was probably the main driver for the difference of the symptom rates among the 3 regions. This work provides potential values for prevention and control of COVID-19 in different regions.

Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19 Patients' Postvaccination.

To investigate the clinical characteristic of domestic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients after vaccination campaign conducted in China. According to vaccination status and months from first vaccine dose to infection detection, patients were divided into unvaccinated, <3 months, 3-6 months, and >6 months groups. The information of demographic and clinical characteristics, laboratory and thoracic computed tomography (CT) findings, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acid and IgM, IgG antibodies was retrospectively collected. Therapeutic approaches, temperature-normalizing and viral shedding times, outcomes were also summarized. SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels were further analyzed based on the other following variables: time from second vaccine dose to infection, vaccine dose, the interval from the first to the second dose, and vaccine brand. Among 208 COVID-19 patients, 13 (6.28%) were unvaccinated. No significant differences in demographic and clinical characteristics, laboratory and CT findings, and SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid loads were detected between groups (all p > 0.05). In comparison with the unvaccinated group, the median SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels were noticeably increased in those vaccinated groups (0.603 in unvaccinated, 15.925 in <3 months, 14.04 in 3-6 months, and 4.94 in >6 months, respectively, p < 0.05). However, SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels were not altered between groups divided based on the other variables. Vaccination does not affect the clinical characteristics in COVID-19 patients. COVID-19 patients with vaccination have high SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels. Underscore the necessity of rapid implementation of vaccination campaigns can be speculated.

Association between health behaviours and the COVID-19 vaccination: risk compensation among healthcare workers in Taizhou, China.

This study is conducted to explore the association between health behaviors and the COVID-19 vaccination based on the risk compensation concept among health-care workers in Taizhou, China. We conducted a self-administered online survey to estimate the health behaviors among the staff in a tertiary hospital in Taizhou, China, from May 18 to 21 May 2021. A total of 592 out of 660 subjects (89.7%) responded to the questionnaire after receiving an e-poster on WeChat. Subjects who had been inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine were asked to mention the differences in their health behaviors before and after the vaccination. The results showed that there were no statistical differences in health behaviors between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups, except in terms of the type of gloves they used (62.8% in the vaccinated group and 49.2% in the unvaccinated group, p = .048). Subjects who received earlier COVID-19 vaccinations exhibited better health behaviors (22.40% increased for duration of wearing masks (P = .007), 25.40% increased for times of washing hands (P = .01), and 20.90% increased for times of wearing gloves (P = .01)). Subjects also revealed better health behaviors (washing hands, wearing gloves, and wearing masks) after vaccination compared to that before. In conclusion, concept of risk compensation was not applied in our findings. The health behaviors did not reduce after the COVID-19 vaccination, which even may improve health behaviors among health-care workers in the hospital setting.

Public Health Crisis Response Mechanism with Equal Stress on Construction of the Medical System and Cultivation of Public Awareness: A Case Study on Japan

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented worldwide shutdown, and made urban planning reflect on and discuss how to respond to public health crises. Japan's medical system has been repeatedly rated as the world's number one by the World Health Organization. This paper analyzes Japan's diversified medical facility system, its prevention and control mechanism regarding public health emergencies, and the cultivation of social public awareness, and points out that the Japanese public health crisis response mechanism is characterized by an equal emphasis on the construction of the medical system and the cultivation of public awareness. It is proposed that an effective way to respond to daily medical needs and irregular public health security crises is to improve the community medical quality and grant administrative power to the director of public health centers, promote the "urbanization of people" with public awareness, and improve the resilience of the medical and health system.

Phycoerythrin from Colaconema sp. Has Immunostimulatory Effects on the Whiteleg Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei and Increases Resistance to Vibrio parahaemolyticus and White Spot Syndrome Virus.

We investigated whether phycoerythrin (PE), a pigment sourced from marine algae, could act as an immunomodulatory agent in whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). To this end, PE was extracted and purified from a PE-rich macroalgae, Colaconema sp. Our in vitro analysis demonstrated that PE enhanced prophenoloxidase and phagocytosis activity but inhibited the production of reactive oxygen species in hemocytes. Additionally, the PE signal could be detected using an in vivo imaging system after its injection into the ventral sinus of the cephalothorax of whiteleg shrimp. The expression profiles of fourteen immune-related genes were monitored in hemocytes from whiteleg shrimp injected with 0.30 µg of PE per gram of body weight, and crustin, lysozyme, penaiedin 4, and anti-lipopolysaccharide factor showed up-regulated post-stimulation. The induction of immune genes and enhancement of innate immune parameters by PE may explain the higher survival rates for shrimp that received different doses of PE prior to being challenged with Vibrio parahaemolyticus or white spot syndrome virus compared to controls. Combined, these results show that PE from Colaconema sp. can differentially stimulate the immune response of whiteleg shrimp in vitro and in vivo and could potentially be used as an immunomodulator in shrimp culture.

Discovery of naturally occurring inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro from Ginkgo biloba leaves via large-scale screening.

3-Chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro) is a virally encoded main proteinase that is pivotal for the viral replication across a broad spectrum of coronaviruses. This study aims to discover the naturally occurring SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro inhibitors from herbal constituents, as well as to investigate the inhibitory mechanism of the newly identified efficacious SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro inhibitors. Following screening of the inhibitory potentials of eighty herbal products against SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro, Ginkgo biloba leaves extract (GBLE) was found with the most potent SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro inhibition activity (IC50 = 6.68 µg/mL). Inhibition assays demonstrated that the ginkgolic acids (GAs) and the bioflavones isolated from GBLE displayed relatively strong SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro inhibition activities (IC50 < 10 µM). Among all tested constituents, GA C15:0, GA C17:1 and sciadopitysin displayed potent 3CLpro inhibition activities, with IC50 values of less than 2 µM. Further inhibition kinetic studies and docking simulations clearly demonstrated that two GAs and sciadopitysin strongly inhibit SARS-CoV-2 3CLprovia a reversible and mixed inhibition manner. Collectively, this study found that both GBLE and the major constituents in this herbal product exhibit strong SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro inhibition activities, which offer several promising leading compounds for developing novel anti-COVID-19 medications via targeting on 3CLpro.