ABSTRACT
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a beta coronavirus, which first appeared in 2019 and rapidly spread causing a worldwide pandemic. Here we present a nonsystematic review of the current knowledge on its epidemiological features. The SARS-CoV2 replicates mainly in the upper and lower respiratory tract and is mainly transmitted by droplets and aerosols from asymptomatic and symptomatic infected subjects. The estimate for the basic reproduction number (R0) is between 2 and 3 and the median incubation period is 6 days (range 2-14 days). Similar to the related coronaviruses SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), superspreading events play an important role in spreading the disease. The majority of infections run an uncomplicated course but 5-10% of those infected develop pneumonia or a systemic inflammation leading to hospitalization, respiratory and potentially multiorgan failure. The most important risk factors for a complicated disease course are age, hypertension, diabetes, chronic cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases and immunodeficiency. The current infection fatality rate over all age groups is between 0.5% and 1% and the rate rises after the sixth decade of life. Nosocomial transmission and infections in medical personnel have been reported. A drastic reduction of social contacts has been implemented in many countries with outbreaks of SARS-CoV2, leading to rapid reductions in R0. Most interventions have used bundles and which of the measures have been more effective is still unknown. Using mathematical models an incidence of 0.4%-1.8% can be estimated for the first wave in Germany.
ABSTRACT
In March 2021, the pilot project “Vaccination in practices” started in 42 selected family practices in Baden-Württemberg. The 6-week project aimed to rapidly implement the COVID-19 vaccination in primary care. The practices were able to document the time spent per patient and vaccination in minutes, as well as the daily time spent on patient-independent vaccination tasks, using time recording tables. Five of the 42 practices with inhomogeneous practice characteristics provided data. Based on this limiting database, a first vaccination took an average of 29 minutes, almost twice as long as a second vaccination, which took an average of 15 minutes. In each case, the duration of the follow-up surveillance of 15 minutes must be added to this. In particular, appointment scheduling, pre-vaccination consultation, and documentation took additional time beyond the actual vaccination. An average of 189 minutes per vaccination day was required for the patient-independent organization of the COVID-19 vaccination.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has immense impact on our daily life. Precautions like facemasks and social distancing restrict the economy as well as the social life. The aim of the bachelor project was to support architects by integrating health specifications into a software environment and automatically derive specific design support by analyzing architecture. This interdisciplinary project combined architectural and medical expertise to determine the risk of SARS-CoV-2-infection in enclosed spaces by a software approach on basis of parameters provided by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Mainz, Germany) and the Association of German Engineers. Subsequently, calculated risks were evaluated by hygiene experts and summarized in a traffic light scheme, which is clearly intelligible and thus allows simple use. Furthermore, the software concept provides instructions for action for architects and specialists in the field of infection control and suggests architectural tools to minimize the risk of infection. The developed concept can be applied to an existing building and contribute to the planning of new buildings. © 2021, Education and research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe. All rights reserved.