ABSTRACT
Objective To assess imported risk of COVID-19 in Hainan province from January 10 to March 7 in 2020, and to assess the effect of "The Normalization Prevention and Control" (measures during the Spring Festival Travel Rush (SFTR) in Hainan in 2021. Methods The daily reported imported cases in Hainan province, the daily reported cases in other 30 province of China, and the Baidu Migration Index were collected to calculated into the Imported Risk Index (IRI) to quantitatively assess the imported risk of Hainan province. Based on the analysis of the relationship between the imported risk index and imported cases, an imported case prediction model was constructed to fit the number of imported cases in "emergency containment" stage in Hainan. And number of imported cases during the Spring Festival Travel rush in 2021 was predicted by this model to compared with the actual number, which was to evaluate the "Normalization Prevention and Control" measures in this model was also used to assess the effect of "Normalization Prevention and Control" measures during the SFTR in 2021. Results Totally 112 imported cases were reported in Hainan. The average IRI was 0.98. Haikou, Sanya and Danzhou have the highest imported risk. Except Haikou, the imported risk index of all cities and counties reached the maximum value around January 24th. The generalized additive model based on the lag 4 days and lag 5 days was best fitted with the actual imported cases number (R2adjust1=83.50%, R2adjust2=82.00%, MRE=17.61%). If "Emergency Containment" strategy was still adopted, there were 10 COVID-19 cases imported into Hainan during the SFTR in 2021. Under the "Normalization Prevention and Control" strategy, virtually no imported cases were found in Hainan. Conclusions Tourism cities such as Haikou and Sanya have high imported risks. Hubei and Guangdong provinces are the main imported provinces. The Generalized Additive Model based on the Imported Risk Index can better fit with the imported cases number of COVID-19 in Hainan Province in "emergency containment". Compared with the "Emergency Containment" strategy, the "Normalization Prevention and Control" strategy adopted during the SFTR in 2021 reduced imported cases in Hainan by about 10. © 2022. China Tropical Medicine. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The overusage of hydroxychloroquine (HQ) amidst the outbreak of coronavirus disease has contributed to increased fatalities concerning HQ poisoning. Hence, there is an utmost requirement to develop accurate and onsite methodologies for monitoring HQ in biological samples and water bodies. Metal-oxide-decorated carbon nanomaterials present excellent electrocatalytic properties, contributing to improved sensor responses. This study introduces tungsten trioxide nanorods/ nitrogen-doped carbon nanofiber (WO3/N-CNF) nanocomposite, capable of detecting HQ electrochemically. The conjunction of WO ;with N-CNF offers accelerated charge transfer kinetics with an abundance of surface-active sites that benefit the sensing mechanism. Furthermore, synergistic effects arising from the nanocomposite augment the conductivity and promote faster ion diffusion. The WO3/N-CNF-based electrochemical sensor deliver high performance in the working concentration range of 0.007-480 mu M and provides a detection limit of 2.0 nM for HQ The fabricated sensor has excellent operational stability and reproducibility and is also able to show a superb selectivity toward HQin comparison to various interfering compounds. This indicates that the designed WO3/N-CN.F nanocomposite can be used as a potential electrocatalyst for the real-time monitoring of HQ.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to evaluate factors affecting the recurrence of positive RT-PCR results. By performing a retrospective analysis, we evaluated the clinical data of recurrent positive coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in multiple medical institutions in Wuhan. We recruited COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized from January 1 to March 10, 2020, in three tertiary hospitals in Wuhan, met the discharge criteria and received at least one additional nucleic acid test before leaving the hospital. According to the RT-PCR results, patients were split into a recurrent positive group (RPos group) and a nonrecurrent positive group (non-RPos group). Clinical characteristics, therapeutic schedules and antibody titers were compared between the two groups. AI-assisted chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) technology was applied to investigate pulmonary inflammatory exudation and compare the extent of lung areas with different densities. This study involved 122 COVID-19 patients. There were no significant differences in age, sex, preexisting diseases, clinical symptoms, clinical classification, course of disease, therapeutic schedules or serum-specific antibodies between the two groups. A higher proportion of patients who showed pulmonary inflammatory exudation on HRCT scans were recurrent positive at the time of discharge than other patients (81.6% vs 13.7%, P < 0.01). In addition, the degree of pulmonary fibrosis was higher in the RPos group than in the non-RPos group (P < 0.05). Subpleural exudation at the peripheral edge of the lung and extensive pulmonary fibrosis at the time of discharge represent risk factors for the recurrence of COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed hospitals in several areas in high-income countries. An effective response to this pandemic requires health care workers (HCWs) to be present at work, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where they are already in critically low supply. To inform whether and to what degree policymakers in Bangladesh, and LMICs more broadly, should expect a drop in HCW attendance as COVID-19 continues to spread, this study aims to determine how HCW attendance has changed during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. Methods This study analyzed daily fingerprint-verified attendance data from all 527 public-sector secondary and tertiary care facilities in Bangladesh to describe HCW attendance from January 26, 2019 to March 22, 2020, by cadre, hospital type, and geographic division. We then regressed HCW attendance onto fixed effects for day-of-week, month, and hospital, as well as indicators for each of three pandemic periods: a China-focused period (January 11, 2020 (first confirmed COVID-19 death in China) until January 29, 2020), international-spread period (January 30, 2020 (World Health Organization's declaration of a global emergency) until March 6, 2020), and local-spread period (March 7, 2020 (first confirmed COVID-19 case in Bangladesh) until the end of the study period). Findings On average between January 26, 2019 and March 22, 2020, 34.1% of doctors, 64.6% of nurses, and 70.6% of other health care staff were present for their scheduled shift. HCWs' attendance rate increased with time in 2019 among all cadres. Nurses' attendance level dropped by 2.5% points (95% confidence interval (CI) =-3.2% to -1.8%) and 3.5% points (95% CI = -4.5% to -2.5%) during the international-spread and the local-spread periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, relative to the China-focused period. Similarly, the attendance level of other health care staff declined by 0.3% points (95% CI=-0.8% to 0.2%) and 2.3% points (95% CI = -3.0% to -1.6%) during the international-spread and local-spread periods, respectively. Among doctors, however, the international-spread and local-spread periods were associated with a statistically significant increase in attendance by 3.7% points (95% CI =2.5% to 4.8%) and 4.9% points (95% CI=3.5% to 6.4%), respectively. The reduction in attendance levels across all HCWs during the local-spread period was much greater at large hospitals, where the majority of COVID-19 testing and treatment took place, than that at small hospitals. Conclusions After a year of significant improvements, HCWs' attendance levels among nurses and other health care staff (who form the majority of Bangladesh's health care workforce) have declined during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. This finding may portend an even greater decrease in attendance if COVID-19 continues to spread in Bangladesh. Policymakers in Bangladesh and similar LMICs should undertake major efforts to achieve high attendance levels among HCWs, particularly nurses, such as by providing sufficient personal protective equipment as well as monetary and non-monetary incentives.