Rethinking our interpretation processes: Some evidence

This chapter reconstructs the research work developed within the volume, with the aim of bringing out new elements. Using the abductive process within this chapter, therefore starting from the facts-understood as the infodemic disorder that afflicted public institutions and citizens during the first period of the Covid-19 pandemic-the evidence is presented. It is therefore a question of inserting the six research into the nested case study. Through the technique of lexical worlds, the views of the crisis have been reconstructed. The chapter also traces the limits of this study by opening new avenues for the analysis of the communication crisis produced by the pandemic. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. All rights reserved.

Infodemic Disorder: Covid-19 Coping Strategies in Europe, Canada and Mexico

This contributed volume identifies how the information processes of public institutions and citizens have changed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, within a new context that emerged: the infodemic disorder. Public debate is largely characterized today by a crisis of the legitimacy of institutions, accompanied by a crisis of authority in public communication, leading to the emergency of a state of information disorder due specifically to the need to find information related to the coping of the pandemic. This condition is characterized by growing attention to issues related to 'fake news', 'misinformation', and 'media manipulation', that are intertwined in digital platform ecosystems, and the effects of which on democracy, public communication and research, and the sharing of information in the civic sphere are broad and far-reaching. This volume analyzes the links between communication strategies of public institutions, and the resulting citizen communication, in an attempt to tease out how communication processes have changed during the pandemic. It was decided to investigate this infodemic disorder as it appeared in three different geographical contexts: Europe, Canada and Mexico and, at the same time, to bring out the formal and informal coping strategies implemented by public institutions and citizens. Beginning with an introduction to the crisis of information created by the pandemic, the contributors build a theoretical framework, provide contagion data, and subsequently, for each of the geographical contexts analyzed, explore the public communication strategies and those activated by citizens seeking to share information. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. All rights reserved.

Covid-19 and the global crisis of information: An introduction

This chapter sets the direction of volume analysis. The purpose of the volume is to pull off the construction of information processes during the Covid-19 pandemic. The book examines how the different actors, whether governments, public health authorities, the media and citizens have managed this public health crisis coupled with a communication crisis. To do this, we apply a nested case study methodology. Three geographical contexts were selected: Europe, Canada and Mexico and for each of them two dimensions were analyzed, that of public authority and that of citizens. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. All rights reserved.

From #iononriapro to #ioapro: analysing hashtag activism in the Italian restaurant Twittersphere during the 2020 lockdown

Purpose: In this article, the authors analyse the impact of the 2020 lockdown and the subsequent measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Italy in the hospitality industry by looking at the social demands brought forward by the restaurant sector. Design/methodology/approach: To analyse social demands, the authors choose Twitter as an observation point using two hashtags as keywords to scratch the data: #iononriapro and #ioapro, which correspond to two different instances conveyed by the same subject: the restaurant sector. The instances linked to the hashtags produced different levels of engagement and penetration within the social structure and digital platform. To analyse the first block of data linked to the first hashtag-flag #iononriapro, the authors used content analysis. To analyse the second and third block of data linked to the hashtag-flag #ioapro, the authors used an automatic procedure, emotional text mining. Findings: The analysis procedures allow us to reconstruct the positioning of the topics of closures and reopenings due to lockdown in this sector and to identify two explanatory dimensions: structural and affective, which explain the tension that has emerged between the State and the restaurant sector around COVID-related closures. Originality/value: The study's findings not only contribute to the current understandings of the birth, transformation and penetration of social issues by the restaurant sector over the specific period linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures imposed for its containment but are also valuable to analyse the dynamics through which Twitter hashtags and the social issues they represent find strength or lose interest in the public. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

#Covid-19: A hashtag for examining reactions towards Europe in times of crisis. An analysis of tweets in Italian, Spanish, and French

Hashtag research has established itself as a relevant research field, with various studies having analysed this polysemic collector in crisis and media events. Hashtags are used in social media, most specifically on Twitter. Further, between 2020 and 2021, hashtag studies linked to the COVID-19 pandemic have emerged. Accordingly, this study aimed to analyse the content of tweets during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 4-11, 2020) that included the hashtag #Covid-19 in three different languages: Italian, Spanish, and French. For these analyses, we used emotional text mining. The goal of this study was to reconstruct the representation of the pandemic, of containment measures, and of Europe in tweets. We discussed the prevailing attitude towards Europe in times of crisis.

BARICITINIB and PULSE STEROIDS COMBINED TREATMENT in SEVERE COVID-19 PNEUMONIA: PRELIMINARY DATA from A RHEUMATOLOGIC EXPERIENCE in INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

Background: Growing evidence from in vitro and clinical studies have highlighted important similarities between severe COVID-19 and rapidly progressive interstitial lung diseases (ILD) occurring in systemic autoimmune disorders. These data supported the use of anti-rheumatic drugs, baricitinib and glucocor-ticoids, for the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia. Objectives: To compare mortality rate and infammatory response in critically ill COVID-19 patients treated with either a 'rheumatologic approach' based on baricitinib plus pulse steroids (BPS) or with a 'conventional approach' (Standard of Care, SoC). Methods: In this retrospective study, we enrolled patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with CT-proven SARS-CoV2 pneumonia, from September 2020 to April 2021. Demographic, laboratory, and clinical data were collected at the admission to ICU and after one week of treatment. SoC included dexameth-asone 6 to 8 mg daily plus remdesivir (+/-antibiotics and hydroxychloroquine);BPS approach was based on baricitinib 4 mg daily for 10-14 days plus 6-methyl-prednisolone pulses (250-500 mg) for three consecutive days followed by rapid tapering. The primary endpoint was the intra-ICU mortality rate;the secondary endpoint was the change in infammatory biomarkers at week 1 after treatment. Results: We enrolled a total of 210 consecutive patients with SARS-CoV2 pneumonia (male 61.4%, mean age 66.6 ± 10.9 years);137/210 (male 59.8%, mean age 66.3 ± 11.9 years) were treated with SoC and 73/210 (male 64.3%, mean age 67.3 ± 8.8 years) with BPS. At admission in ICU, all patients presented lag time from the frst symptom of SARS-CoV2 infection ≤ 10 days, laboratory biomarkers' alterations suggestive of hyper-infammatory response (CRP 10.8 ± 11.9 mg/dL, ferritin 1238 ± 1005 μ g/L, fbrinogen 575 ± 173 mg/dL, LDH 385 ± 152 U/L) and severe respiratory failure, requiring non-invasive or invasive ventilatory support. Lung-CT pattern showed multiple and diffuse areas of ground glass opacities, septal thickening, and/or consolidation. No statistically signifcant differences were found between SoC and BPS groups in terms of demographic, laboratory, and clinical features at enrolment. 59/210 (28.1%) patients died during ICU hospitalization (mean ICU length of stay 14.6 ± 9.6 days). Mortality rate in the BPS group (13/73, 17.8%) resulted signifcantly lower compared to that in the SoC group (46/137, 33.6%) (p= 0.016). Furthermore, patients in the BPS group had signifcantly lower levels of CRP (BPS=1.9 ± 2.8 vs SoC 6.1 ± 7.3, p<0.001) and fbrinogen (BPS=335 ± 108 vs SoC 453 ± 172, p<0.001) at one week after the start of treatment. Conclusion: Our real-life experience, in an ICU setting, showed that baricitinib and pulse steroids combination was associated with a lower mortality rate paralleled by a prompt reduction of infammatory biomarkers. These results shed new light on the possible usefulness of baricitinib for the treatment of rapidly progressive ILD in patients with systemic autoimmunity and hyper-infammation.

Lockdown and Breakdown in Italians' Reactions on Twitter during the First Phase of Covid-19

The article focuses on Italians' reactions to the pandemic on Twitter. During the first phase of the 2020 lockdown (from the beginning of March 2020 - to the beginning of May 2020), a real-time dataset was built, linking data scratching to three events related to the introduction of the Prime Minister's decrees and his press conferences. The chosen observation point is Twitter, platform that allows us to monitor the emergence of discussions on public issues, extremely synchronized with events and news - which is, moreover, a feature of use of this platform. The coronavirus hashtag was chosen as a mechanism to track the development of Italian reactions, following the evolution of its sense and sensemaking and considering it as a polysemic collector. The aim is to identify within the tweets the actors, the topics, and the tone of the debate in an open public space. Furthermore, the analysis is carried out in search of the Italians' perception of the lockdown and whether they are in favor of it because of the defense of public health or they see it as a restriction of their individual freedom. The analysis, which used the socio-constructivist approach of Emotional Text Mining, reveals two explanatory-dimensions in the governance of the crisis: lockdown and breakdown and allows us to understand the reasons for Twitter's instinct-reactions.

Outbreak of COVID-19 infection in children: fear and serenity.

OBJECTIVE: The recent outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 greatly involves the resources of the global healthcare system, as it affects newborns, adults, and elders. This infection runs in three major stages: a mild cold-like illness, a moderate respiratory syndrome and a severe acute interstitial pneumonia. SARS-CoV-2 infection seems to have a more benign evolution in children. As a matter of fact, low susceptibility and minor aggressivity have been highlighted in most cases. There are currently no effective antiviral drugs treatment for the affected children. No sufficient results have been reached by the use of interferon (IFN), lopinavir/ritonavir, orbidol, and oseltamivir in the treatment of the coronaviruses infection. The aim of this short review is to highlight the differences existing between COVID-19 cases in adults and children.