ABSTRACT
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a tuberculosis outbreak occurred in a university in eastern China, with 4,488 students and 421 staff on the campus. A 19-year-old student was diagnosed in August 2019. Later, the first round of screening was initiated among close contacts, but no active cases were found. Till September 2020, four rounds of screening were performed. Four rounds of screening were conducted on September 9, November 8, November 22-25 in 2019 and September 2020, with 0, 5, 0 and 43 cases identified, respectively. A total of 66 active tuberculosis were found in the same university, including 4 sputum culture-positive and 7 sputum smear-positive. The total attack rate of active tuberculosis was 1.34% (66/4909). The whole-genome sequencing showed that the isolates belonged to the same L2 sub-specie and were sensitive to all tested antituberculosis drugs. Delay detection, diagnosis and report of cases were the major cause of this university tuberculosis epidemic. More attention should be paid to the asymptomatic students in the index class. After the occurrence of tuberculosis cases in schools, multiple rounds of screening should be carried out, and preventive therapy should be applied in a timely manner.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Tuberculosis , Adult , COVID-19/epidemiology , China/epidemiology , Disease Outbreaks , Humans , Pandemics , Tuberculosis/diagnosis , Tuberculosis/epidemiology , Tuberculosis/prevention & control , Universities , Young AdultABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a serious global public health emergency. Hospitalization and mortality rates of lung cancer patients diagnosed with COVID-19 are higher than those of patients presenting with other cancers. However, the reasons for the outcomes being disproportionately severe in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients with COVID-19 remain elusive. The present study aimed to identify the possible causes for disproportionately severe COVID-19 outcomes in LUAD patients and determine a therapeutic target for COVID-19 patients with LUAD. We used publicly available data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases and various bioinformatics tools to identify and analyze the genes implicated in SARS-CoV-2 infection in LUAD patients. Upregulation of the SARS-CoV-2 infection-related molecules dipeptidyl peptidase 4, basigin, cathepsin B (CTSB), methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase, and peptidylprolyl isomerase B rather than angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 may explain the relatively high susceptibility of LUAD patients to SARS-CoV-2 infection. CTSB was highly expressed in the LUAD tissues after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and its expression was positively correlated with immune cell infiltration and proinflammatory cytokine expression. These findings suggest that CTSB plays a vital role in the hyperinflammatory response in COVID-19 patients with LUAD and is a promising target for the development of a novel drug therapy for COVID-19 patients.
Subject(s)
Adenocarcinoma of Lung/virology , COVID-19/genetics , Cathepsin B/genetics , Lung Neoplasms/virology , Adenocarcinoma of Lung/genetics , Adenocarcinoma of Lung/immunology , Adenocarcinoma of Lung/mortality , Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2/genetics , Animals , Basigin/genetics , CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/virology , COVID-19/immunology , COVID-19/mortality , Cricetinae , Cyclophilins/genetics , Cytokines/blood , Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4/genetics , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Humans , Lung Neoplasms/genetics , Lung Neoplasms/immunology , Lung Neoplasms/mortality , Methylenetetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase (NADP)/genetics , Minor Histocompatibility Antigens/genetics , Molecular Targeted Therapy , Prognosis , Protein Interaction Maps/genetics , Up-RegulationABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the correlation between viral clearance and blood biochemical index of 94 discharged patients with COVID-19 infection in Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, enrolled from Jan 5 to Feb 13, 2020. METHODS: The clinical and laboratory findings were extracted from the electronic medical records of the patients. The data were analysed and reviewed by a trained team of physicians. Information on clinical signs and symptoms, medical treatment, virus clearance, and laboratory parameters including interleukin 6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein were collected. RESULTS: COVID-19 mRNA clearance ratio was identified significantly correlated with the decline of serum creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels. Furthermore, COVID-19 mRNA clearance time was positively correlated with the length of hospital stay in patients treated with either IFN-α + lopinavir/ritonavir or IFN-α + lopinavir/ritonavir + ribavirin. CONCLUSIONS: Therapeutic regimens of IFN-α + lopinavir/ritonavir and IFN-α + lopinavir/ritonavir + ribavirin might be beneficial for treatment of COVID-19. Serum LDH or CK decline may predict a favorable response to treatment of COVID-19 infection.