A stochastic agent-based model to evaluate COVID-19 transmission influenced by human mobility.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgent need for mathematical models that can project epidemic trends and evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation strategies. A major challenge in forecasting the transmission of COVID-19 is the accurate assessment of the multiscale human mobility and how it impacts infection through close contacts. By combining the stochastic agent-based modeling strategy and hierarchical structures of spatial containers corresponding to the notion of geographical places, this study proposes a novel model, Mob-Cov, to study the impact of human traveling behavior and individual health conditions on the disease outbreak and the probability of zero-COVID in the population. Specifically, individuals perform power law-type local movements within a container and global transport between different-level containers. It is revealed that frequent long-distance movements inside a small-level container (e.g., a road or a county) and a small population size reduce both the local crowdedness and disease transmission. It takes only half of the time to induce global disease outbreaks when the population increases from 150 to 500 (normalized unit). When the exponent c1 of the long-tail distribution of distance k moved in the same-level container, p(k)∼k-c1·level, increases, the outbreak time decreases rapidly from 75 to 25 (normalized unit). In contrast, travel between large-level containers (e.g., cities and nations) facilitates global spread of the disease and outbreak. When the mean traveling distance across containers 1d increases from 0.5 to 1 (normalized unit), the outbreak occurs almost twice as fast. Moreover, dynamic infection and recovery in the population are able to drive the bifurcation of the system to a "zero-COVID" state or to a "live with COVID" state, depending on the mobility patterns, population number and health conditions. Reducing population size and restricting global travel help achieve zero-COVID-19. Specifically, when c1 is smaller than 0.2, the ratio of people with low levels of mobility is larger than 80% and the population size is smaller than 400, zero-COVID can be achieved within fewer than 1000 time steps. In summary, the Mob-Cov model considers more realistic human mobility at a wide range of spatial scales, and has been designed with equal emphasis on performance, low simulation cost, accuracy, ease of use and flexibility. It is a useful tool for researchers and politicians to apply when investigating pandemic dynamics and when planning actions against disease. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11071-023-08489-5.

Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in psychiatric patients during the COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Current suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among psychiatric patients during the COVID-19 pandemic were studied through systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched the following electronic databases using the relevant search terms: Medline, Embase, PubMed and Web of Science, with the search time as of January 31,2022. Forest plots were obtained using Stata statistical software and a random-effects model was used to conduct a meta-analysis of the prevalence of suicidal ideation. We found 21 eligible studies, 11 of which provided suitable data for meta-analysis. 10 studies explored current suicidal ideation and reported a pooled prevalence of 20.4% (95%CI 14.0-26.8). Six studies examined suicide attempts, with a pooled prevalence of 11.4% (95%CI 6.2-16.6). The prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts varied by the study method used and by the study sites. This work highlights the need for real-time monitoring of suicidal ideation and suicide in psychiatric patients during the covid-19 pandemic r to inform clinical practice and help identify research questions for future epidemiological studies.

Chinese Consensus Report on Family-Based Helicobacter pylori Infection Control and Management (2021 Edition).

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.

Systemic In Silico Screening in Drug Discovery for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) with an Online Interactive Web Server.

The emergence of the new coronavirus (nCoV-19) has impacted human health on a global scale, while the interaction between the virus and the host is the foundation of the disease. The viral genome codes a cluster of proteins, each with a unique function in the event of host invasion or viral development. Under the current adverse situation, we employ virtual screening tools in searching for drugs and natural products which have been already deposited in DrugBank in an attempt to accelerate the drug discovery process. This study provides an initial evaluation of current drug candidates from various reports using our systemic in silico drug screening based on structures of viral proteins and human ACE2 receptor. Additionally, we have built an interactive online platform (https://shennongproject.ai/) for browsing these results with the visual display of a small molecule docked on its potential target protein, without installing any specialized structural software. With continuous maintenance and incorporation of data from laboratory work, it may serve not only as the assessment tool for the new drug discovery but also an educational web site for the public.

The efficacy and safety of Chinese traditional medicine injections on patients with coronavirus disease 2019: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection has exposed vulnerable populations to an unprecedented global health crisis. Research reported that Chinese traditional medicine injections were used in patients with COVID-19 infection and showed significant effects, and there have been no systematic review and meta-analyses to investigate the effects and safety of Chinese traditional medicine injections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This systematic review and meta-analysis protocol is based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols 2015 statement. The literature search will involve Cochran library, Web of science, PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, China Biology Medicine Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, VIP, Wang Fang database, and China Clinical Trial Registration Center for articles and research published form December 2019. This search will include randomized controlled trials and nonrandomized studies. The Cochrane Collaboration's tool for randomized controlled trial studies and the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies for nonrandomized studies will be used to assess the risk of bias among the studies included in the systematic review. Review Manager 5.3 software will be used for the meta-analysis, and odds ratio are calculated as the primary outcomes. Subgroup analyses will then be performed based on the characteristics of the interventions and populations included in the studies examined. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This systematic review protocol is designed to provide evidence regarding the effects and safety of Chinese traditional medicine injections on patients with COVID-19, such evidence may be useful and important for clinical treatment decisions. The results should be disseminated through publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Since the data and results used in the systematic review will be extracted exclusively from published studies, approval from an ethics committee will not be required.

The effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of children with COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: With the widespread spread of novel coronavirus pneumonia, more and more countries have been affected. Some research reports have shown that traditional Chinese medicine has a significant effect on COVID-19 infection, and the treatment of traditional Chinese medicine is used in some special people, such as children. At present, there is a lack of high-quality systematic reviews on the safety and efficacy of using Chinese medicine to treat children with novel coronavirus pneumonia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We will search Cochran library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), China Biomedical Database (CBM), VIP Database (VIP), and Wanfang database for research. This study includes randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs, and uses the Cochrane systematic review to review the safety and efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine in preventing and treating children with novel coronavirus pneumonia. RCT research tools and quantitative research quality assessment tools for non-randomized studies will be used to assess the risk of bias in studies included in the systematic review. We will use Revman 5.3 software for meta-analysis, the main result is odds ratio, and then a subgroup analysis will be performed based on the age, intervention degree, and disease severity of the patients reviewed. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This systematic review protocol is designed to provide evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of children with COVID-19, such evidence may be useful and important for clinical treatment decisions. The results should be disseminated through publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Since the data and results used in the systematic review will be extracted exclusively from published studies, approval from an ethics committee will not be required. REGISTRATION INFORMATION: PROSPERO CRD42020179150.