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1.
Int J Environ Res Public Health ; 19(24)2022 12 14.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2264695

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 has affected traditional instructional activities. Home-based isolation and restrictive movement measures have forced most learning activities to move from an offline to an online environment. Multiple studies have also demonstrated that teaching with virtual tools during the COVID-19 pandemic is always ineffective. This study examines the different characteristics and challenges that virtual tools brought to online education in the pre-pandemic and pandemic era, with the aim of providing experience of how virtual tools supported purely online learning during a health crisis. By searching keywords in public databases and review publications, this study tries to summarize the major topics related to the research theme. These topics are the characteristics of learning supported by technologies in pre-pandemic and pandemic era, the challenges that education systems have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study also compares the functions, advantages and limitations of typical virtual tools, which has rarely been done in previous studies. This study tries to present the features of virtual tools that support online learning and the challenges regarding real-life risk scenarios, and tries to provide educational institutions with a distinct perspective for efficient teaching and learning in future potential health crises.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Education, Distance , Humans , COVID-19/epidemiology , SARS-CoV-2 , Pandemics , Educational Status
2.
International Journal of Mass Spectrometry ; 484:N.PAG-N.PAG, 2023.
Article in English | Academic Search Complete | ID: covidwho-2230738

ABSTRACT

Influenza is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses which possess the enormous threat to older people and young children. Rapid and precise discrimination of virus subtypes are quite crucial for the early therapy, prophylaxis and the prevention of epidemic outbreaks. Herein, a universal strategy, with influenza A virus (IAV) as a model, is proposed for the discrimination of virus subtypes based on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Reference library based on nine IAVs subtypes (i.e., H1N1, H3N2, H4N8, H5N8, H6N6, H7N7, H9N2, H10N8, and H11N8) was set up for matching various IAVs subtypes. The simulative test spectra from IAVs showed that the corresponding IAVs subtypes could be distinguished in 90 min, accurately. Furthermore, the principal component analysis results also show that nine virus subtypes can be reliably distinguished. More importantly, this strategy provides an alternative method for identifying and distinguishing other viruses with high variability characteristics, such as SARS-CoV-2, which could be helpful for implementing public health strategies to counter pandemics. A MALDI-TOF MS based universal strategy for the discrimination of virus subtypes was developed, which possess the advantages of speed and high-accuracy. [Display omitted] • A home-made identification database of influenza A virus subtypes was set up. • The discrimination of influenza A virus subtypes could be finished within 90 min. • The influenza A virus subtypes could be distinguished with high accuracy. [ FROM AUTHOR]

3.
Int J Colorectal Dis ; 38(1): 31, 2023 Feb 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2237502

ABSTRACT

AIMS: To evaluate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine on IBD activity. METHODS: Adult IBD patients from five large IBD centers in China were enrolled and followed up for 6 months. Patients were divided into vaccinated and unvaccinated groups according to vaccination status. Demographic and clinical data were collected. RESULTS: A total of 280 individuals (213 UC and 67 CD patients) were enrolled in the study. The unvaccinated and vaccinated groups of UC patients were comparable for basic characteristics, including age (t = - 0.8, p = 0.425), sex (χ2 = 0.980, p = 0.322), course of disease (z = - 0.513, p = 0.608), surgical conditions (χ2 = 1.042, p = 0.838), disease extent (χ2 = 4.853, p = 0.088), or baseline drug therapy (χ2 = 7.784, p = 0.064). In the subgroup of UC patients, there was no association between vaccination and disease activities, according to the medium disease activity scores for two groups: unvaccinated patients having scores (IQR) 1(2.75), 1(2), 1(2), and 1(2) at baseline, 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively, whereas vaccinated patients having scores (IQR) 1(2), 1(2), 1(2), and 1(2). Similar conclusions were also derived in the subgroup of CD patients. There were also no statistically significant differences in age (t = - 1.48, p = 0.144), sex (χ2 = 0.003, p = 0.957), course of disease (z = - 0.074, p = 0.941), surgical conditions (χ2 = 0.613, p = 0.594), localization (χ2 = 6.261, p = 0.199), or baseline drug therapy (χ2 = 5.881, p = 0.114) between 2 groups of CD patients. The medium disease activity scores (IQR) of the unvaccinated group at baseline, 1, 3, and 6 months were 1(4), 1(3), 1(3), and 1(3), respectively, whereas those of vaccinated group were 2.5(3.75), 2.5(3.75), 3(2), and 2(2), respectively. Overall, very few participants in this study described worsening IBD disease activity requiring a change or addition of medication. CONCLUSIONS: SARS-CoV-2 vaccine has no adverse effect on disease activity in IBD population. IBD patients should be recommended to receive SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in time.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Colitis, Ulcerative , Crohn Disease , Inflammatory Bowel Diseases , Adult , Chlorocebus aethiops , Animals , Humans , Crohn Disease/drug therapy , Colitis, Ulcerative/drug therapy , COVID-19 Vaccines/therapeutic use , Vero Cells , COVID-19/prevention & control , SARS-CoV-2 , Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/drug therapy , China/epidemiology
4.
International Journal of Mass Spectrometry ; : 116979, 2022.
Article in English | ScienceDirect | ID: covidwho-2122524

ABSTRACT

Influenza is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses which possess the enormous threat to older people and young children. Rapid and precise discrimination of virus subtypes are quite crucial for the early therapy, prophylaxis and the prevention of epidemic outbreaks. Herein, a universal strategy, with influenza A virus (IAV) as a model, is proposed for the discrimination of virus subtypes based on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Reference library based on nine IAVs subtypes (i.e., H1N1, H3N2, H4N8, H5N8, H6N6, H7N7, H9N2, H10N8, and H11N8) was set up for matching various IAVs subtypes. The simulative test spectra from IAVs showed that the corresponding IAVs subtypes could be distinguished in 90 min, accurately. Furthermore, the principal component analysis results also show that nine virus subtypes can be reliably distinguished. More importantly, this strategy provides an alternative method for identifying and distinguishing other viruses with high variability characteristics, such as SARS-CoV-2, which could be helpful for implementing public health strategies to counter pandemics.

5.
Sensors (Basel) ; 22(22)2022 Nov 15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2116265

ABSTRACT

Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has created significant obstacles for education, driving people to discover workarounds to maintain education. Because of the excellent benefit of cheap-cost information distribution brought about by the advent of the Internet, some offline instructional activity started to go online in an effort to stop the spread of the disease. How to guarantee the quality of teaching and promote the steady progress of education has become more and more important. Currently, one of the ways to guarantee the quality of online learning is to use independent online learning behavior data to build learning performance predictors, which can provide real-time monitoring and feedback during the learning process. This method, however, ignores the internal correlation between e-learning behaviors. In contrast, the e-learning behavior classification model (EBC model) can reflect the internal correlation between learning behaviors. Therefore, this study proposes an online learning performance prediction model, SA-FEM, based on adaptive feature fusion and feature selection. The proposed method utilizes the relationship among features and fuses features according to the category that achieved better performance. Through the analysis of experimental results, the feature space mined by the fine-grained differential evolution algorithm and the adaptive fusion of features combined with the differential evolution algorithm can better support online learning performance prediction, and it is also verified that the adaptive feature fusion strategy based on the EBC model proposed in this paper outperforms the benchmark method.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pandemics , Humans , Algorithms , Students
6.
J Med Virol ; 94(11): 5325-5335, 2022 Nov.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1935706

ABSTRACT

Establishment of rapid on-site detection technology capable of concurrently detecting SARS-Cov-2 and influenza A virus is urgent to effectively control the epidemic from these two types of important viruses. Accordingly, we developed a reusable dual-channel optical fiber immunosensor (DOFIS), which utilized the evanescent wave-sensing properties and tandem detection mode of the mobile phase, effectively accelerating the detection process such that it can be completed within 10 min. It could detect the nucleoprotein of multiple influenza A viruses (H1N1, H3N2, and H7N9), as well as the spike proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Delta variants, and could respond to 20 TCID50 /ml SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus and 100 TCID50 /ml influenza A (A/PR/8/H1N1), presenting lower limit of detection and wider linear range than enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The detection results on 26 clinical samples for SARS-CoV-2 demonstrated its specificity (100%) and sensitivity (94%), much higher than the sensitivity of commercial colloidal gold test strip (35%). Particularly, DOFIS might be reused more than 80 times, showing not only cost-saving but also potential in real-time monitoring of the pathogenic viruses. Therefore, this newly-developed DOFIS platform is low cost, simple to operate, and has broad spectrum detection capabilities for SARS-CoV-2 mutations and multiple influenza A strains. It may prove suitable for deployment as a rapid on-site screening and surveillance technique for infectious disease.


Subject(s)
Biosensing Techniques , COVID-19 , Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype , Influenza A Virus, H7N9 Subtype , Influenza, Human , Humans , Immunoassay , Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype/genetics , Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype/genetics , Influenza, Human/diagnosis , SARS-CoV-2/genetics
7.
Front Oncol ; 11: 785102, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1834497

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The present COVID-19 pandemic has tended toward normality. To provide convenient, safe, and effective home treatment programs for patients with recurrent ovarian cancer (ROC), the clinical efficacy and safety of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor (PARPi) (including olaparib, niraparib, and rucaparib) monotherapy as a maintenance treatment for platinum-sensitive ROC were systematically evaluated. METHODS: Numerous electronic databases were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of PARPi maintenance treatment for ROC that were published before June 2021. The primary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), and the secondary endpoint was grade 3-4 adverse effects (AEs). After data extraction and the quality evaluation of the included studies, Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) was performed using R software. The ability of each treatment was ranked using the surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) curve. RESULTS: The analysis included five studies and 1390 patients. The NMA results demonstrated that compared with the placebo, olaparib and niraparib exhibited significant benefits in the gBRCA-mutated population, and respectively reduced the risk of death by 31% (HR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.53-0.90) and 34% (HR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.44-0.99). Olaparib, niraparib, and rucaparib were all found to be very effective in prolonging PFS in patients with ROC. All three PARPi treatments increased the number of grade 3-4 AEs in patients with ROC as compared with the placebo. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, olaparib and niraparib maintenance treatment can significantly prolong the OS of patients with gBRCA mutations. Furthermore, the three investigated PARPi monotherapy maintenance treatments can prolong PFS regardless of BRCA mutation status. Although the incidence of AEs in the treatment groups was found to be significantly higher than that in the placebo group, the patients in the treatment group tolerated the treatment. Home oral PARPi treatment can balance tumor treatment and pandemic prevention and control, and is the most convenient, safe, and effective home treatment method available against the background of the current COVID-19 pandemic. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2021-6-0033/.

8.
Front Pharmacol ; 13: 764305, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1785389

ABSTRACT

Background: To explore the effect of combining traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine in hemodialysis patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: This study was conducted from 27 January 2020 to 17 March 2020 in Wuhan Third Hospital Guanggu Branch, Wuhan, China. Fifty-three patients were included and divided into a control group (CG), which received Western medicine and a combined treatment group, which received TCM and Western medicine (TG). Clinical and laboratory data, TCM symptom scores, and chest computed tomography results were extracted and compared between the two groups. Results: The TG included 21 (67.7%) men and 10 (32.3%) women with a mean age of 61.02 (standard deviation [SD] 15.07, range 26-89) years. The mean dialysis duration in the TG was 49 (SD 31) months. Of all patients in the TG, 27 (87.1%) had fatigue, 18 (58.1%) had dry cough, 16 (51.6%) had anorexia, 11 (35.5%) had dyspnea, and 11 (35.5%) had fever. The CG included 14 (63.6%) men and 8 (36.4%) women with a mean age of 61.45 (SD 13.78, range 36-84) years. The mean dialysis duration in the CG was 63 (SD 46) months. Of all patients in the CG, 21 (95.5%) had fatigue, 12 (54.5%) had dry cough, 17 (77.3%) had anorexia, 12 (54.5%) had dyspnea, and 7 (31.8%) had fever. After treatment, the TCM symptom scores of the two groups decreased; the anorexia scores were lower in the TG than in the CG (p < 0.05). After treatment, albumin increased and D-dimer, C-reactive protein, and lactate dehydrogenase levels decreased in the TG. The d-dimer levels were lower and the albumin level was higher in the TG than in the CG after treatment (p < 0.05). The cure rate was higher, and the mortality rate was lower in the TG than in the CG (p < 0.05). Conclusion: A combination of TCM and Western medicine in hemodialysis patients with COVID-19 could relieve symptoms and help recovery. Further evidence from larger randomized controlled trials is needed to confirm our results.

9.
Sci China Life Sci ; 65(8): 1504-1516, 2022 08.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1739405

ABSTRACT

Emerging infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, continue to pose significant threats to human beings and their surroundings. In addition, biological warfare, bioterrorism, biological accidents, and harmful consequences arising from dual-use biotechnology also pose a challenge for global biosecurity. Improving the early surveillance capabilities is necessary for building a common biosecurity shield for the global community of health for all. Furthermore, surveillance could provide early warning and situational awareness of biosecurity risks. However, current surveillance systems face enormous challenges, including technical shortages, fragmented management, and limited international cooperation. Detecting emerging biological risks caused by unknown or novel pathogens is of particular concern. Surveillance systems must be enhanced to effectively mitigate biosecurity risks. Thus, a global strategy of meaningful cooperation based on efficient integration of surveillance at all levels, including interdisciplinary integration of techniques and interdepartmental integration for effective management, is urgently needed. In this paper, we review the biosecurity risks by analyzing potential factors at all levels globally. In addition to describing biosecurity risks and their impact on global security, we also focus on analyzing the challenges to traditional surveillance and propose suggestions on how to integrate current technologies and resources to conduct effective global surveillance.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Communicable Diseases, Emerging , Biosecurity , Bioterrorism/prevention & control , COVID-19/epidemiology , Communicable Diseases, Emerging/epidemiology , Communicable Diseases, Emerging/prevention & control , Humans , International Cooperation
10.
Gut ; 71(2): 238-253, 2022 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1622066

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Helicobacter pylori infection is mostly a family-based infectious disease. To facilitate its prevention and management, a national consensus meeting was held to review current evidence and propose strategies for population-wide and family-based H. pylori infection control and management to reduce the related disease burden. METHODS: Fifty-seven experts from 41 major universities and institutions in 20 provinces/regions of mainland China were invited to review evidence and modify statements using Delphi process and grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation system. The consensus level was defined as ≥80% for agreement on the proposed statements. RESULTS: Experts discussed and modified the original 23 statements on family-based H. pylori infection transmission, control and management, and reached consensus on 16 statements. The final report consists of three parts: (1) H. pylori infection and transmission among family members, (2) prevention and management of H. pylori infection in children and elderly people within households, and (3) strategies for prevention and management of H. pylori infection for family members. In addition to the 'test-and-treat' and 'screen-and-treat' strategies, this consensus also introduced a novel third 'family-based H. pylori infection control and management' strategy to prevent its intrafamilial transmission and development of related diseases. CONCLUSION: H. pylori is transmissible from person to person, and among family members. A family-based H. pylori prevention and eradication strategy would be a suitable approach to prevent its intra-familial transmission and related diseases. The notion and practice would be beneficial not only for Chinese residents but also valuable as a reference for other highly infected areas.


Subject(s)
Family Health , Helicobacter Infections/prevention & control , Helicobacter pylori , Infection Control/organization & administration , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Child, Preschool , China , Consensus , Delphi Technique , Helicobacter Infections/diagnosis , Helicobacter Infections/transmission , Humans , Infant , Middle Aged , Young Adult
11.
Adv Ther ; 39(4): 1568-1581, 2022 04.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1530424

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: To explore the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the stability of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) receiving the treat and extend (T&E) or the pro re nata (PRN) treatment regimen and to identify indicators that may predict the disease stability of nAMD. METHODS: This is a retrospective study of patients with nAMD treated at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University whose treatment schedule was interrupted at least once between 1 February and 31 May 2020. The demographic and clinical characteristics, including the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), optical coherence tomography (OCT) features, subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT), interval between the last injection and the beginning of the pandemic, and the number of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections, were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 209 stable patients with nAMD (122 eyes received the T&E regimen; 87 eyes received the PRN regimen) were identified. Compared to those who received the PRN regimen, the patients who received the T&E regimen were more stable during the first visit after COVID-19 (53.3% vs. 33.3%, P = 0.004), the BCVA was significantly better (58.5 letters vs. 56 letters, P = 0.006), and the CRT fluctuated only slightly (15 µm vs. 35 µm, P = 0.001). Furthermore, a multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that stable patients with nAMD with type 1 choroidal neovascularization (CNV) (OR 2.493 [95% CI 1.179-5.272], compared with type 2 CNV; P = 0.017; OR 2.912 [95% CI 1.133-7.485], compared with retinal angiomatous proliferation; P = 0.026) or with pigment epithelial detachment (PED) were more likely to remain stable when treatment was interrupted (OR 0.392 [95% CI 0.181-0.852], compared with no PED; P = 0.018). CONCLUSION: Compared to patients who received the PRN treatment regimen, stable patients with nAMD who received the T&E treatment regimen could better maintain stability when the treatments were suddenly interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, patients with type 1 CNV or patients with PED were more likely to remain stable. At present, the COVID-19 pandemic is becoming increasingly normalized, and the T&E regimen can become a more advanced treatment option for patients undergoing therapy.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Choroidal Neovascularization , Macular Degeneration , Retinal Detachment , Wet Macular Degeneration , Angiogenesis Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Choroidal Neovascularization/drug therapy , Humans , Intravitreal Injections , Macular Degeneration/complications , Macular Degeneration/drug therapy , Pandemics , Ranibizumab/therapeutic use , Retrospective Studies , Tomography, Optical Coherence , Treatment Outcome , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/therapeutic use , Visual Acuity , Wet Macular Degeneration/complications , Wet Macular Degeneration/drug therapy
12.
Int J Environ Res Public Health ; 18(16)2021 08 18.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1360770

ABSTRACT

During the COVID-19 outbreak, college students experienced different periods of isolation on campus, which has had an impact on students' mental health. Based on ART theory, this study randomly selected students at Northwest A&F University, Shaanxi, China and distributed questionnaires in order to evaluate the psychological recovery effect of campus environment during the epidemic. The results showed that: (1) There were significant differences in the psychological restoration of four types of campus environments. Blue space had the greatest effect, followed by green space and sports grounds, while grey space had the least. (2) Time of stay had a very significant impact on psychological restoration. Longer time of exposure is not necessarily correlated with a better recovery experience. (3) In the different campus environments, extent is easier to be perceived followed by fascination and compatibility, and the weakest is being away. At the time of stay level, no significant difference was found in the perception of compatibility. Time of stay was negatively correlated with fascination and compatibility. These findings can provide theoretical and practical bases for campus environmental planning and construction following the COVID-19 epidemic.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pandemics , China/epidemiology , Humans , SARS-CoV-2 , Students , Universities
13.
Am J Chin Med ; 49(5): 1063-1092, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1263933

ABSTRACT

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new infectious disease associated with high mortality, and traditional Chinese medicine decoctions (TCMDs) have been widely used for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 in China; however, the impact of these decoctions on severe and critical COVID-19-related mortality has not been evaluated. Therefore, we aimed to address this gap. In this retrospective cohort study, we included inpatients diagnosed with severe/critical COVID-19 at the Tongren Hospital of Wuhan University and grouped them depending on the recipience of TCMDs (TCMD and non-TCMD groups). We conducted a propensity score-matched analysis to adjust the imbalanced variables and treatments and used logistic regression methods to explore the risk factors associated with in-hospital death. Among 282 patients with COVID-19 who were discharged or died, 186 patients (66.0%) received TCMD treatment (TCMD cohort) and 96 (34.0%) did not (non-TCMD cohort). After propensity score matching at a 1:1 ratio, 94 TCMD users were matched to 94 non-users, and there were no significant differences in baseline clinical variables between the two groups of patients. The all-cause mortality was significantly lower in the TCMD group than in the non-TCMD group, and this trend remained valid even after matching (21.3% [20/94] vs. 39.4% [37/94]). Multivariable logistic regression model showed that disease severity (odds ratio: 0.010; 95% CI: 0.003, 0.037; [Formula: see text]¡ 0.001) was associated with increased odds of death and that TCMD treatment significantly decreased the odds of in-hospital death (odds ratio: 0.115; 95% CI: 0.035, 0.383; [Formula: see text]¡ 0.001), which was related to the duration of TCMD treatment. Our findings show that TCMD treatment may reduce the mortality in patients with severe/critical COVID-19.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 Drug Treatment , COVID-19/mortality , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage , Aged , COVID-19/pathology , Critical Illness , Female , Humans , Male , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Middle Aged , Retrospective Studies , Severity of Illness Index
14.
ACS Infect Dis ; 6(11): 2970-2978, 2020 11 13.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-779928

ABSTRACT

The pandemic outbreak of a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has threatened the global public health and economy since late December 2019. SARS-CoV-2 encodes the conserved macro domain within nonstructural protein 3, which may reverse cellular ADP-ribosylation and potentially cut the signal of a viral infection in the cell. Herein, we report that the SARS-CoV-2 macro domain was examined as a poly-ADP-ribose (ADPR) binding module and possessed mono-ADPR cleavage enzyme activity. After confirming the ADPR binding ability via a biophysical approach, the X-ray crystal structure of the SARS-CoV-2 macro domain was determined and structurally compared with those of other viruses. This study provides structural, biophysical, and biochemical bases to further evaluate the role of the SARS-CoV-2 macro domain in the host response via ADP-ribose binding but also as a potential target for drug design against COVID-19.


Subject(s)
Betacoronavirus/metabolism , Coronavirus Infections/virology , Pneumonia, Viral/virology , Viral Nonstructural Proteins/chemistry , Viral Nonstructural Proteins/metabolism , Adenosine Diphosphate Ribose/metabolism , Antiviral Agents/pharmacology , COVID-19 , Drug Design , Humans , Pandemics , Protein Conformation , Protein Domains , SARS-CoV-2
15.
World J Clin Cases ; 8(12): 2554-2565, 2020 Jun 26.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-624368

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In December 2019, an ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first identified in Wuhan, China. The characteristics of COVID-19 patients treated in local hospitals in Wuhan are not fully representative of patients outside Wuhan. Therefore, it is highly essential to analyze the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in areas outside Wuhan or Hubei Province. To date, a limited number of studies have concentrated on the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients with different genders, clinical classification, and with or without basic diseases. AIM: To study the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients in Hengyang (China) and provide a reliable reference for the prevention and control of COVID-19. METHODS: From January 16 to March 2, 2020, a total of 48 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in Hengyang, and those cases were included in this study. The diagnostic criteria, clinical classification, and discharge standard related to COVID-19 were in line with the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (Trial Version 7) released by National Health Commission and National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 in pharyngeal swab specimens was detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. All the data were imported into the excel worksheet and statistically analyzed by using SPSS 25.0 software. RESULTS: A total of 48 cases of COVID-19 were collected, of which 1 was mild, 38 were moderate, and 9 were severe. It was unveiled that there were 31 (64.6%) male patients and 17 (35.4%) female patients, with a female-to-male ratio of 1.82:1. The range of age of patients with COVID-19 was dominantly 30-49 years old [25 (52.1%) of 48], followed by those aged over 60 years old [11 (22.9%)]. Besides, 29.2% (14 of 48) of patients had basic diseases, and 57.2% (8 of 14) of patients with basic diseases were aged over 60 years old. The occupations of 48 COVID-19 patients were mainly farmers working in agricultural production [15 (31.5%) of 48], rural migrant workers from Hengyang to Wuhan [15 (31.5%)], and service workers operating in the service sector [8 (16.7%)]. The mean latent period was 6.86 ± 3.57 d, and the median was 7 [interquartile range (IQR): 4-9] d. The mean time from onset of symptoms to the first physician visit was 3.38 ± 2.98 (95%CI: 2.58-9.18) d, with a median of 2 (IQR: 1-5) d, and the mean time from hospital admission to confirmed diagnosis was 2.29 ± 2.11 (95%CI: 1.18-6.42) d, with a median of 2 (IQR: 1-3) d. The main symptoms were fever [43 (89.6%) of 48], cough and expectoration [41 (85.4%)], fatigue [22 (45.8%)], and chills [22 (45.8%)]. Other symptoms included poor appetite [13 (27.1%)], sore throat [9 (18.8%)], dyspnea [9 (18.8%)], diarrhea [7 (14.6%)], dizziness [5 (10.4%)], headache [5 (10.4%)], muscle pain [5 (10.4%)], nausea and vomiting [4 (8.3%)], hemoptysis [4 (8.3%)], and runny nose [1 (2.1%)]. The numbers of peripheral blood leukocytes, lymphocytes, and eosinophils were significantly reduced in the majority of the patients. The levels of C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, blood glucose, lactate dehydrogenase, D-dimer, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transferase (γ-GT), myoglobin (MB), and creatine kinase (CK) were increased in 64.6%, 44.7%, 43.2%, 37.0%, 29.5%, 22.9%,20.8%, 21.6%, 13.6%, and 12.8% of patients, respectively. The incidence of ALT elevation in male patients was remarkably higher than that in females (P < 0.01), while the incidences of AST, CK, and blood glucose elevations in severe patients were remarkably higher than those in moderate patients (P < 0.05, respectively). Except for the mild patients, chest computed tomography showed characteristic pulmonary lesions. All the patients received antiviral drugs, 38 (79.2%) accepted traditional Chinese medicine, and 2 (4.2%) received treatment of human umbilical-cord mesenchymal stem cells. On March 2, 2020, 48 patients with COVID-19 were all cured and discharged. CONCLUSION: Based on our results, patients with COVID-19 often have multiple organ dysfunction or damage. The incidences of ALT elevation in males, and AST, CK, and blood glucose elevations in severe patients are remarkably higher.

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