ABSTRACT
From the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, there have been many reports on cluster infections in clubs and bars. Meanwhile, there is no report on the indoor air environment in those places and it will limit measures for infection control. This study aims to understand the indoor air and ventilation environment and to propose practical and appropriate improvement measures for related industries. In addition to measuring CO2 concentration in clubs and bars in Tokyo, we have surveyed the voluntary measures taken against COVID-19, outlines of building and ventilation/air conditioning equipment, ventilation regime, and so on. © 2023 Architectural Institute of Japan. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Sound environment of dental clinics has changed with the COVID-19 pandemic. Because the use of dental suction devices for infection control measures during dental treatment has increased compared to their use before the COVID-19 pandemic. Many dental patients experienced unpleasant feeling with the sound of a dental drills in dental clinics. In this study, the sounds emitted by dental drills and sound related to dental suction devices were prepared and psychoacoustic evaluation of the stimuli combined the both noises was conducted. The results showed that masking of some prominent frequency components of dental drill noise changed subjective impression and it may help to improve the discomfort feeling in the dental sound environment. © 2022 Internoise 2022 - 51st International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The importance of effective ventilation as one of the measures against COVID-19 is widely recognized worldwide. In Japan, at the early stage of the pandemic, in March 2020, an official announcement was made about basic ventilation measures against COVID-19. WHO also used the term "long-range aerosol or long-range airborne transmission” for the first time in December 2021. Based on the aerosol infection control measures before 2021 by the Japanese government, we conducted experiments on methods related to partition placement as an element of effective ventilation methods. In July 2022, the governmental subcommittee on Novel Coronavirus Disease Control provided an emergent proposal about effective ventilation methods to prevent two types of aerosol infection;infection by large aerosol on the air current and infection by small floating aerosol diffusion in a room. They also showed the way of setting droplet prevention partitions, which do not block off ventilation based on this investigation's results. © 2023 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 caused a global pandemic. The possibility of aerosol transmission has been pointed out as a possible route of infection, and there are reports that conventional infection control measures are insufficient to counteract aerosol transmission. Therefore, this report presents the results of an actual survey at a high school, including measurement of CO2 concentration and a questionnaire survey, and the results of an experiment to evaluate the attenuation of particle concentration by an air cleaner based on this survey. © 2023 Architectural Institute of Japan. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Case 1 was an 81-year-old man undergoing treatment for the nummular eczema of the lower leg. The day after being administered the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the patient developed generalized pruritus, multiple serous papules, and erythema on the trunk, upper extremities, and palms, as well as worsening of pre-existing eczema on the lower legs. The serum TARC level of the patient was 1,383 pg/mL. After taking oral antihistamines and topical steroids for two weeks, the erythema faded, papules crusted, and serum TARC level normalized. Case 2 was a 22-year-old woman who had been treated with topical steroids for contact dermatitis by poultices on the ankles. On the same day as she received the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, erythema with pruritus on the dorsum of the feet appeared and gradually expanded to papules and edematous erythema on the face, extremities, and trunk. The serum TARC level of the patient was 2,090 pg/mL. After taking 15 mg/day oral prednisolone and topical steroids for 10 days, overall erythema became hyperpigmented, and the erythema on the dorsum of the hands and fingers persisted for approximately 2 weeks and then became pigmented. Serum TARC level normalized after the skin rash reformed. Case 3 was a 74-year-old woman with a history of asthma. She received SBT/ABPC therapy for acute cholangitis for one week. Ten days after treatment, she received the first COVID-19 vaccination dose. Two days after vaccination, the patient became aware of pruritus on the extremities ipsilateral to the vaccination site, and small erythematous patches appeared all over the body in a disseminated pattern. Her serum TARC level was 3,862 pg/mL. After taking oral antihistamines and topical steroids for 3 weeks, the erythema completely faded, and the serum TARC level normalized. The DLST showed positive by SBT/ABPC, but the result of drug challenge test was negative. There have been no previous case reports of rash with a high TARC level after vaccination. In the future, it is necessary to accumulate patients with a high TARC level by vaccination and analyze the clinical and pathological trends including immunological mechanisms. Copyright © 2022 Osaka University Medical School. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Case 1 was an 81-year-old man undergoing treatment for the nummular eczema of the lower leg. The day after being administered the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the patient developed generalized pruritus, multiple serous papules, and erythema on the trunk, upper extremities, and palms, as well as worsening of pre-existing eczema on the lower legs. The serum TARC level of the patient was 1,383 pg/mL. After taking oral antihistamines and topical steroids for two weeks, the erythema faded, papules crusted, and serum TARC level normalized. Case 2 was a 22-year-old woman who had been treated with topical steroids for contact dermatitis by poultices on the ankles. On the same day as she received the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, erythema with pruritus on the dorsum of the feet appeared and gradually expanded to papules and edematous erythema on the face, extremities, and trunk. The serum TARC level of the patient was 2,090 pg/mL. After taking 15 mg/day oral prednisolone and topical steroids for 10 days, overall erythema became hyperpigmented, and the erythema on the dorsum of the hands and fingers persisted for approximately 2 weeks and then became pigmented. Serum TARC level normalized after the skin rash reformed. Case 3 was a 74-year-old woman with a history of asthma. She received SBT/ABPC therapy for acute cholangitis for one week. Ten days after treatment, she received the first COVID-19 vaccination dose. Two days after vaccination, the patient became aware of pruritus on the extremities ipsilateral to the vaccination site, and small erythematous patches appeared all over the body in a disseminated pattern. Her serum TARC level was 3,862 pg/mL. After taking oral antihistamines and topical steroids for 3 weeks, the erythema completely faded, and the serum TARC level normalized. The DLST showed positive by SBT/ABPC, but the result of drug challenge test was negative. There have been no previous case reports of rash with a high TARC level after vaccination. In the future, it is necessary to accumulate patients with a high TARC level by vaccination and analyze the clinical and pathological trends including immunological mechanisms. Copyright © 2022 Osaka University Medical School. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 caused a global pandemic. The possibility of aerosol transmission has been pointed out as a possible route of infection, and there are reports that conventional infection control measures are insufficient to counteract aerosol transmission. Therefore, this report presents the results of an actual survey at a high school, including measurement of CO2 concentration and a questionnaire survey, and the results of an experiment to evaluate the attenuation of particle concentration by an air cleaner based on this survey. © 2023 Architectural Institute of Japan. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to elucidate the effect of prone positioning on the respiratory function of patients with the severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which emerged in 2019. [Participants and Methods] We examined 24 COVID-19 patients who underwent mechanical ventilation at the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center from March 2020 to November 2021. The respiratory function of these patients before and after prone positioning was compared. The indices of respiratory function were the P/F ratio obtained from the blood data and peak pressure (Ppeak), positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP), delta P (⊿P), and static compliance (Cstat) displayed on the graphic monitor of the ventilator. [Results] After prone positioning, significant increases in the P/F ratio and Cstat were observed. Although Ppeak, PEEP and ⊿P decreased, their differences were not significant. [Conclusion] The results of this study demonstrate that prone positioning was effective at contributing to improvement of the respiratory status of patients with severe COVID-19. © 2022, Society of Physical Therapy Science (Rigaku Ryoho Kagakugakkai). All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
As of May 2021, COVID-19 has not yet converged globally. SARS-CoV-2 virus is found in saliva. Dental treatment often involves procedures in which virus particles in saliva are likely to spread outside. So, more advanced infection control is required in dentistry, and the frequency of using dental aerosol suction devices in dental clinics in Japan has increased dramatically compared before COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, sound pressure levels were measured in outpatient clinical treatment areas. A survey of the sound environment was also conducted to the dentists and dental hygienists working there. As a result, the respondents answered that their clinical office was noisier than before COVID-19, and they felt distressed by the sound of dental aerosol suction devices. The average value of LAeq measured in the clinic was 59.2 dB during consultation hours (8:30 -16:30). The LAeq value when using the extraoral suction device was 69.4 dB, which was about 10 decibels higher than without the device. Our findings suggest that the improvement of the sound of an extraoral vacuum device is needed to provide a better and healthier environment in the dental clinic. © INTER-NOISE 2021 .All right reserved.