ABSTRACT
Background Orthogeriatrics inpatient ward. Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic changed working patterns for many trainees. Remote telephone or video outpatient consultations became established practice, with clinically vulnerable staff able to support this provision. We adapted the use of telemedicine to provide remote clinical working for inpatient care and continued speciality training opportunities. Method Microsoft Teams video conferencing facilitated interaction between the specialist registrar working remotely and the on-site multidisciplinary team (MDT). Daily activities included virtual handover attendance, inpatient ward round consultations and MDT discussions. A portable computer enabled the clinician to see and interact with inpatients remotely. Access to electronic patient records facilitated timely decision making and enactment of management plans. Anonymous MDT feedback was collected via online questionnaires. This project conformed to service evaluation guidelines and ethical approval was not required. Results Fourteen staff members completed the feedback survey. Results were overwhelmingly positive, with 78.6% of respondents strongly agreeing that the senior doctor working remotely supported the MDT, facilitated complex clinical decision making and was beneficial to patient care. Feedback noted that some patients praised the ‘clever’ and ‘innovative’ method. Limitations included technical difficulties due to Wi-Fi connection, which contributed to communication not being as fluid as face-to-face consultations and increased ward round duration. Patient factors, namely hearing and cognitive impairment, limited the interaction that patients were able to have with the clinician via video link. Conclusion Video inpatient ward round consultations offer an effective opportunity for physicians to continue clinical patient-facing roles whilst working remotely. Furthermore, this minimises the impact of COVID-19 on specialty trainees, by providing continued training and assessment opportunities for individuals required to shield. This novel method affords a framework transferrable to clinicians from other hospital specialties who may be required to work remotely. Future reviews of patient and relative satisfaction with this process are required.
ABSTRACT
Background. Tissue donors are evaluated for communicable disease in order to minimize the risk of transmission to recipients. Although there are data suggesting SARS-CoV-2 viremia across a wide spectrum of illness, prevalence in deceased tissue donors and the potential for transplant transmission are unknown. Methods. Eight tissue banks participated in a retrospective analysis of samples from eligible deceased tissue donors from Oct 2019 through June 2020, one participant in Canada and the remainder located in the United States. All four Census regions of the continental US and all major racial-ethnic groups were represented. EDTA or sodium citrate plasma aliquots were tested in singlicate with the Research Use Only Procleix SARS-CoV-2 Assay on the Procleix Panther System, which uses transcription-mediated nucleic acid amplification (TMA) technology for detection of the SARSCoV-2 RNA. Plasma (or if unavailable, serum) aliquots were sent to Grifols for an alternate SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification (NAT) test to verify reactivity and also sent for antibody testing using the emergency use authorization Ortho VITROS Immunodiagnostic Products Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Total test. The VITROS assay uses immunometric technology for qualitative measurement of total antibody (IgG, IgA and IgM) to SARS-CoV-2. The proportion of donors with confirmed RNAemia (i.e., presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in plasma or serum) and 95% confidence intervals were computed. Results. Of 3,455 donor samples with valid final results, 26 (0.76%) were initially positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA;of these, 3 were confirmed by alternate NAT. Of donor samples collected in 2019 0.00% (95% CI: 0.00%,0.43%) were confirmed RNAemic, while of those collected in 2020, 0.12% (0.04%,0.34%) were confirmed RNAemic. One of 26 initial positive, and none of the three samples confirmed by alternate NAT, tested positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike antibodies by serology. Infectivity studies are pending on one sample with sufficient available volume. Conclusion. The rate of SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia in deceased tissue donors is approximately 1 per 1,000, and it is unknown whether this RNAemia reflects the presence of infectious virus. Given these results, the risk of transmission through tissue is most likely to be low.
ABSTRACT
Background: The third leading preventable cause of death in the United States is excessive alcohol use. Our study sought to assess the impact COVID-19 has had on hospitalizations for alcohol-related hepatitis at a community hospital system. We hypothesized an increase in cases of alcohol-related hepatitis requiring inpatient management in parallel with the economic strain imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The third leading preventable cause of death in the United States is excessive alcohol consumption. Our study sought to assess the impact of the COVID-19 on hospitalizations for alcohol-related hepatitis at a community hospital system. We hypothesized an increase in cases of alcohol-related hepatitis requiring inpatient management in parallel with the strain on the economic and societal norms imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: There was a 51% increase in the overall incidence of alcohol-related hepatitis requiring hospitalization between 2019 and 2020 (p=0.003), and 69% increase(p<0.001) after implementation of the stay-at-home orders. Additionally, 94%(p=0.028) increase in re-hospitalizations was noted in 2020 (p=0.028), a 100% increase in patients under the age of 40 (p=0.0028) as well as a trend towards a 125% increase (p=0.06) of female patients admitted with this diagnosis during the COVID-19 . Conclusion: Our study revealed drastic increases in severe alcohol-related hepatitis requiring inpatient management specifically in patients under the age of 40 and in females during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the high morbidity and mortality associated with severe alcohol-related hepatitis, these findings have far reaching and lasting implications for our already strained healthcare system extending beyond the COVID-19 pandemic timeframe. Urgent public health interventions are needed to combat the rising misuse of alcohol and its consequences.
ABSTRACT
Background/Case Studies: Blood donor based serosurveillance is a convenient and cost-effective strategy to monitor the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic and allows the detection of asymptomatic and recovered cases. The RESPONSE (REDS-IV-P Epidemiology, Surveillance and Preparedness of the Novel SARS-CoV-2 Epidemic) study conducted monthly cross-sectional serosurveys of 1000 routinely obtained donor samples in 6 metropolitan regions (see table). Study Design/Methods: Samples were captured monthly from March or April through June 2020. Siteswere selected based on reports of epidemic activity or as low prevalence control regions. Donations from COVID- 19 convalescent plasma donors were excluded. Coded samples, with routinely collected demographic data and zip code of residence, were tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using the Ortho VITROS anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1 Total Ig (data reported below) with planned confirmation of reactivity on Roche Elecsys® NC Anti-SARS-CoV-2 and a pseudovirus-based neutralization assay. Results/Findings: Table 1 shows donor seroreactivity with 95% CI. For all sites, seroreactivity was <1.0% (range 0.1%-0.9%) at the beginning of the surveillance period. Donor seroreactivity in New York City (NYC) was about 10-fold higher in April through June as compared to March and was much higher than in other locations. There were modest increases in seroreactivity over the study timeframe for all other sites. Conclusions: Modest increases in seroreactivity from baseline were found in all sites, with the largest increase in NYC. SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing of routinely obtained blood donor samples allows for detection of asymptomatic and recovered COVID-19 cases and enables future estimation of infection incidence by geographic and other demographic parameters. This approach will be used in a significantly expanded CDC National serosurveillance study involving all 50 states over 18 months.
ABSTRACT
Background/Case Studies: SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been detected by PCR in plasma, serum or whole blood specimens from hospitalized patients in studies from multiple countries. For asymptomatic individuals, several reports have described detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in plasma in a small number of blood donors, whereas other reports showed no detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in whole blood, serum or plasma from asymptomatic individuals including blood donors. No cases of transfusion-transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (or other human coronaviruses) have been reported, nor has virus been isolated from blood samples by tissue culture. We tested residual volumes of donor plasma from mini-pools (MPs) used for routine nucleic acid testing (NAT) screening to determine the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia in blood donors in six US metropolitan regions (New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Minneapolis). Study Design/Methods: Blood donations collected from 7 March 2020 to 30 June 2020 were tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Donations were tested in plasma MPs of 6 or 16 donations (MP16 format for five regions and MP6 format for Seattle), targeting 500 MPs per region per month, using the Grifols Procleix SARS-CoV-2 transcriptionmediated amplification (TMA) assay on the Procleix Panther system. The test has a 95% limit of detection (LOD) of 16.5 copies/mL (95% CI, 12.8 to 23.6 copies/mL) by probit analysis. A confirmed positive result was defined by the detection of viral RNA upon repeat testing using the same assay and an alternate target region TMA assay (Grifols SARS-CoV-2 confirmatory TMA assay) with comparable sensitivity. Positive MPs were further tested using the Ortho VITROS anti-SARS-CoV-2 Total Ig test to detect antibodies and diluted 4-fold and tested using the Procleix SARS-CoV-2 TMA assay to determine whether the viral load was close to the 95% LOD. Results/Findings: A total of 8,496 MPs16 and 1,998 MPs 6, corresponding to ∼147,000 blood donations, were tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. One confirmed positive MP16 sample from a March donation in San Francisco was identified (0.0007% [95% CI 0.000035-0.004%]). The MP was negative for antibody and nonreactive when diluted 4-fold, suggesting a viral load below 1,000 RNA copies/mL in the individual donation. Conclusions: Blood donation MP-NAT indicated that SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia is rare, and when detected the RNA was at low concentration. Although future studies to determine the infectivity of RNA-positive plasma are warranted and in progress, these findings are reassuring with respect to transfusion safety and support current recommendations from WHO and regulatory agencies to not screen donors by NAT.