Things that dropped off during COVID

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic placed a renewed focus on transmission of respiratory infections in healthcare settings. However, little is known about the direct and indirect impacts on surveillance and infection prevention and control activities to limit transmission of other communicable diseases such as multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). Method(s): We conducted retrospective cross-sectional audits of compliance with routine screening and cleaning practices for MDROs (including vancomycin-resistant enterococci [VRE] and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-[ESBL]-producing and carbapenemase-producing [CPE] Enterobacterales) in a tertiary hospital, where patients admitted to high-risk wards are screened upon admission and weekly. We correlated this with observed transmission events and an organisation-wide point-prevalence survey for MDRO colonisation. Result(s): Compliance with routine MDRO screening practices was lower than pre-pandemic. Additionally, interventions to limit environmental contamination with CPE had been neglected during the pandemic. This corresponded with an increase in CPE transmission. Audits of clinical staff infection prevention and control practices found missed opportunities to screen and identify colonised patients, as well as curtailed control measures during the pandemic, both correlating with MDRO transmission. Conclusion(s): Ongoing engagement of staff and senior decision makers in healthcare facilities is critical to maintaining infection control standards. At our institution, we found a lapse in standards during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an increase in MDRO transmission.Copyright © 2022

Multiple Edge Computing Devices with Computer Vision for Social Distancing

Coronavirus disease, widely known as COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Once infected, a person can spread the virus through their nose or mouth in small particles when they cough, sneeze, speak, or breathe. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one way to be protected from the risk of virus infection is to stay at least 1 meter apart from others while wearing a properly filtered mask. The study aims to design and develop a multiple edge computing system with computer vision capabilities to monitor the adherence of social distancing in multiple locations and in real time. An edge computing device uses a camera to process a stream of images. Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) was utilized for faster inference processing to detect people. The person's location will undergo transformation to get a 2D perspective. Then, a distance calculation algorithm will be imposed to each pair of persons detected to detect breach of social distancing protocol. For every breach detected, location coordinates will be sent to the host database for visualization and monitoring. The use of multiple edge computing devices for computer vision application was compared to the IP camera system in monitoring multiple locations. It is found that utilization of multiple edge computing devices has significant advantages in terms of power consumption, data acquisition, image processing and inference, and setup cost. © 2022 IEEE.

Peripartum Outcomes Following COVID-19 Vaccination in Late Pregnancy: Findings from a Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study in Ontario, Canada

Objectives: Evaluate peripartum outcomes following COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. Methods: Ontario population-based retrospective cohort between December 14, 2020 and September 30, 2021 using linkage of provincial birth registry and COVID-19 immunization databases. Poisson regression was used to generate risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusted for temporal, socio-demographic, and clinical factors using propensity scores. Obstetric (postpartum hemorrhage, chorioamnionitis, cesarean birth) and newborn (NICU admission and 5-minute Apgar<7) outcomes were compared for those who received ≥1 dose of COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy with 2 unexposed groups—Group 1: individuals vaccinated postpartum, Group 2: never vaccinated. Results: Among 97 590 individuals, 22 660 (23%) received ≥1 dose of vaccine during pregnancy (64% received dose 1 in 3rd trimester). Compared with those vaccinated postpartum, we found no increased risks of postpartum hemorrhage (aRR 0.91, 95% CI 0.82–1.02);chorioamnionitis (aRR 0.92, 95% CI 0.70–1.21);or cesarean (aRR 0.92, 95% CI 0.89–0.95) following COVID-19 vaccination, nor any increased risk of NICU admission or 5-minute Apgar <7. All findings were similar when compared with individuals who did not receive COVID-19 vaccination at any point. We did not observe any difference according to vaccine product, number of doses received during pregnancy, or trimester of dose 1. Conclusions: As of late 2021, there is limited evidence from comparative studies in large populations on outcomes following COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. Our study of births up to September 30, 2021 did not identify any increased adverse peripartum outcomes associated with later pregnancy COVID-19 vaccination. Once more individuals vaccinated earlier in pregnancy deliver, we will report on other important obstetric and perinatal outcomes. Keywords: COVID-19 vaccine;pregnancy;epidemiology

Targeting Vulnerability to Seasonal and Acute Weather Changes to Keep Australians With Cardiovascular Disease Out of Hospital - The RESILIENCE Trial

Background: Australia is experiencing ever more frequent weather/environmental challenges, including extreme heatwaves and bushfires. There are no proven interventions to reduce seasonal challenges to the cardiovascular health of vulnerable individuals. The REsilience to Seasonal ILlness and Increased Emergency admissioNs CarE (RESILIENCE) Trial will test the hypothesis that an individually-tailored intervention program will reduce re-hospitalisation risk and mortality in vulnerable individuals. Methods: We will recruit 300 medical patients admitted to the Austin Hospital (Melbourne, Australia), with chronic heart disease and multimorbidity and randomise (1:1) to standard care or the RESILIENCE program (RP). Applying a COVID-19 adapted protocol, the RP group will have their bio-behavioural profile and home environment assessed to determine their vulnerability to seasonal events. An individualised case-management program, including virtual clinic review with a nurse and physician, will be applied to promote seasonal resilience. The primary endpoint is all-cause days alive out of hospital during 12-month follow-up. Trial registered at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04614428. Results: To date, 27 patients have been recruited and randomised. The mean age was 76±9 years and 11 (40%) were female. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (76 %), coronary artery disease (52 %), heart failure (52 %) and chronic kidney disease (52 %). Ten patients (37 %) have had a post-discharge home visit by the RP nurse and 5 (18 %) have attended the clinic. Conclusion: Recruitment is ongoing, and in the absence of further COVID-19 related lockdowns, all patients will be recruited over the next 12 months. Funding: MRFF-Keeping Australians Out of Hospital Grant

Design of a Breach Detection System for Social Distancing

The pandemic caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus introduced essential health protocols for everyone's safety. One of which is maintaining a social distance of at least 1 meter as per the guideline set by World Health Organization (WHO). Currently, most spaces were designed prior to the implementation of the social/physical distancing protocol. This project aims to design and develop a detection system utilizing closed-circuit television cameras, to identify spaces where there is a possible breach in the social distancing protocol. The system will generate discrete data to be queried for tabulation, and analysis. The system will also generate a breach map, which indicates the area in the CCTV footage where increasing breaches occur and are marked in increasing color intensity. The system utilized the YOLO V3 object detection algorithm in identifying an object to be human. The system utilized perspective transformation and Euclidean distance estimation in approximating distance for the social distancing protocol. In summary, the human detection accuracy of the system is ≃ 91%, processing at a rate of 30 frames per second in real-time. © 2021 IEEE.

Risk factors for readmission following inpatient management of COVID-19 in a low-prevalence setting

This was a single-centre, observational cohort study of inpatients admitted to Austin Health from March to October 2020, investigating demographic, clinical,laboratory and treatment parameters associated with readmission to hospital within 6 months following initial inpatient management of COVID-19. Of 169 patients admitted with COVID-19 between March and October 2020 who survived to discharge, 24 (14.2%) were readmitted to hospital within 6 months(median, 36 days;interquartile range, 15-67 days). Ten(5.9%) patients re-presented with respiratory or COVID-19-specific symptoms,five (3.0%) patients represented with COVID-19 complications, and nine (5.3%) patients represented with unrelated problems.In whole cohort analysis, increased length of stay during index admission was significantly associated with readmission (5 days vs 7 days,P=0.04).Anon-significant increase in readmission was noted inpatients with pre-existing chronic respiratory disease,patients requiring supplemental oxygen, and patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

Changes in Surgical Pathology Case Volume and Amendment Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: Surgical pathology volume decreased during the peak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We looked at the 4 months with the greatest reduction in surgical pathology volume during the COVID-19 pandemic and compared them with those same months in 2019 to determine changes in specimen volume. We compared the amendment rates during those periods and types of amendments issued (identification [ID], report defect [RD], diagnostic information [DI]). METHODS: All pathology reports between March to June 2019 and March to June 2020 were extracted from the pathology information system. All amendments issued were extracted over the same period and then subclassified by two pathologists. RESULTS: There was a 52.1% reduction in surgical pathology volume between the 4-month periods in 2019 and 2020 (P = .04). The amendment rate was 0.9% in 2019 compared with 1.4% in 2020, representing a 65.5% increase in amendments overall. There was a 53.3% reduction in amendments issued for ID, a 3.8% reduction in RD, and a 23.2% increase in amendments issued for DI. The change in amendments was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that a reduction in workload would not improve error rates. The circumstances of the pandemic highlight the many factors contributing to error rates in surgical pathology.

Leveraging nurse practitioner capacities to achieve global health for all: COVID-19 and beyond.

AIM: To argue that nurse practitioners have been under-utilized generally in the current global health environment, creating barriers to achieving universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals. BACKGROUND: Nurse practitioners are advanced practice nurses possessing expert knowledge and leadership skills that can be optimized to narrow disparities and ensure access to high-quality health care globally. Nurses worldwide have been challenged to meet global public health needs in the context of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 virus), and there are early indications that nurse practitioners are being called upon to the full extent of their capabilities in the current pandemic. SOURCES OF EVIDENCE: PubMed; Google Scholar; the International Council of Nurses; World Health Organization; United Nations; and the experiences of the authors. DISCUSSION: Several international reports, nursing and health organizations have called for continued investment in and development of nursing to improve mechanisms that promote cost-effective and universally accessible care. Expanding nurse practitioner scopes of practice across nations will leverage their clinical capacities, policy and advocacy skills, and talents to lead at all levels. CONCLUSION: Ongoing empirical data and policy change is needed to enable the full scope and strategic utilization of nurse practitioners across healthcare systems and contexts. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE, AND NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: Widespread education regarding nurse practitioner capacities for interdisciplinary partners, policymakers and the public is needed. Policies that safely expand their roles are critical. Role titles and remuneration reflective of their scope and service are required to lead, sustain and grow the workforce internationally.