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Objective. To evaluate the operative capacity of nine serological rapid tests to detect the IgM/IgG antibodies response in serum from patients with SARS-CoV-2 in different clinical stages. Methods. A cross-sectional study of serological rapid tests was designed to compare the performance of the evaluated immunochromatographic tests for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. A total of 293 samples was used, including negatives, asymptomatic, and symptomatic serum samples. Results. The sensitivity of the evaluated tests was low and moderate in the groups of asymptomatic serum samples and the group of serums coming from patients with less than 11 days since the onset of the symptoms. The specificity for the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies tests ranged between 86.5%-99% for IgM and 86.5%-99.5% for IgG. The sensitivity and the likelihood ratio were different according to the study groups. The usefulness of these tests is restricted to symptomatic patients and their sensitivity is greater than 85% after 11 days from the appearance of symptoms. Conclusions. Serological tests are not an adequate strategy for the identification of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic patients. Serological rapid tests for the detection of specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies can be used as a diagnostic aid, but diagnosis must be confirmed by RT-PCR. Rapid tests should be reserved for patients with symptoms lasting more than 11 days.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 seriously affected people’s mental health. Possibly symptoms of anxiety, depression and insomnia occur with most frequency in various sectors of the population, especially in mothers. The objective of this research was to evaluate levels of depression, anxiety and insomnia in Mexican mothers who had COVID-19, who care for or cared for patients with COVID-19, or in neither of these two conditions. A sample of 540 Mexican mothers was gathered, a questionnaire was applied to obtain data on sociodemographic variables, as well as instruments to measure depression, anxiety and insomnia. The 70% of the participants had insomnia, 77% had depressive symptoms, while 80.2% showed anxiety. Working mothers presented more severe symptoms of insomnia than housewives. Caring for a COVID-19 patient was significantly associated with the psychological variables evaluated. Mexican mothers who care or cared for COVID-19 patients have high rates of depression, anxiety, and insomnia. © 2022. IJP&PT & AAC. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
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Background: For newly diagnosed persons with HIV (PWH), early initiation of ART is essential in reducing morbidity and mortality and decreasing the risk of transmitting HIV. We have previously reported the trends in linkage to HIV medical care within one month of HIV diagnosis (LC-1Mo) and viral suppression within three months of HIV diagnosis (VS-3Mo) among PWH in Spain from 2004 to 2018. We herein update this information up to 2020. Methods: Longitudinal study based on the Cohort of the Spanish AIDS Research Network (CoRIS). VS was defined as ever having an HIV-RNA <200 copies/mL. We used logistic regression to assess differences by sex, age, country of birth, transmission category, and baseline CD4+ cell count. Results: A total of 13,632 PWH were enrolled in CoRIS in the study period: males 85%, men having sex with men (MSM) 62%, median age 35 (IQR: 28-43) years. LC-1Mo increased from 41% (95% CI, 37%-45%) in 2004 to 83% (79%-87%) in 2020 (P trend <0.001) (Figure). Median CD4+ cell counts at ART initiation increased from < 250/mm3 in 2004-2005 to > 350/mm3 since 2012 (P for trend <0.001). The percentage of initial ART regimens based on integrase strand transfer inhibitors (InSTI) increased from 3% in 2004 to > 70% from 2016 onwards (P trend <0.001). VS-3Mo increased from 6% (4%-8%) in 2004 to 43% (40%-47%) in 2019 with a small decrease to 41% (36%-46%) in 2020 (P trend [for the entire period] <0.001) (Figure). The odds of achieving VS-3Mo was higher among females (aOR, 95% CI: 1.30, 1.12-1.51), among non-Spanish Europeans and Latin Americans compared to native-born Spaniards (1.26, 1.11-1.44 and 1.36, 1.21-1.52, respectively), and among those older than 50 years (1.20, 1.03-1.41). Opposite, the odds of achieving VS-3Mo was lower among IDU compared to MSM (0.53, 0.40-0.70) and those with CD4 counts between 200-500 cells/uL (0.78, 0.69-0.89) and CD4 counts >500 cells/uL (0.51, 0.44-0.60) compared to those with CD4 < 200 cells/uL. Conclusion: Indicators of care have improved among newly diagnosed PWH in Spain over the last 16 years. Elimination of CD4 cell count restrictions for ART initiation and increasing use of InSTI-based regimens was decisive for progress. A slight decrease in VS-3Mo in 2020 compared with 2019 was observed, perhaps because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought drastic changes in the teaching and learning of EFL, not least through the increased use of ICT and web 3.0 technologies. As part of this phenomenon, blogs have become a widely used technique for assisting foreign language acquisition. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the use of blogs has a significant impact on the development of reading skills in English learners. The study was based on 106 participants (57 male and 49 female) from a private secondary school in the central highland region of Ecuador, with an age-range from 12 to 19 years. A nonparametric-experimental design was applied to the whole sample, who were pre-tested, given reading development instruction, and then post-tested. The pre-test and post-test were adapted from the Cambridge Preliminary English Test (PET) and consisted of 5 multiple choice comprehension questions, 5 scanning questions and 6 fill in the gap questions. In the instructional phase, the participants engaged in 6 sessions of asynchronous and 6 sessions of synchronous study, in which a variety of digital resources such as Kahoot, Nearpod, Educaplay, Liveworksheets, Padlet, Quizzis, British Council, Quizzlet and others, were employed to contribute to students' communicative competence. Data tendencies and normality were measured through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, which was 0.000;while Wilcoxon was used to corroborate the hypothesis. The results showed a significant improvement of 66.9% in the students' reading skills through the use of web 3.0 blogs. Findings of the research show that the integration of web 3.0 technologies, specifically blogs foster learners' oral and written interaction, being reading the keystone of the whole process. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The pandemic caused by the new SARS-CoV2 coronavirus has led to an effort to find treatments that are effective against this disease that the World Health Organization calls COVID-19. In severe cases of COVID-19, there is an increase in cytokines, among which IL-6 seems to play an important role. A search has been performed for studies using IL-6 blocking drugs (tocilizumab, siltuximab, and sarilumab) in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Also, a search of ongoing trials registered at clinicaltrials.gov was performed. We found very little published clinical experience with these drugs, consisting mainly of case reports or case series with few patients. The results of clinical trials are necessary to clarify the role of these drugs in patients with COVID-19.