Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on Cold-Chain Food: Precautions Can Effectively Reduce the Risk.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a new era in the world, also in the food safety. Up to now, there is no evidence to suggest that people can infect COVID-19 via food contaminated by SARS-CoV-2. Here, we analyzed the results of regular SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing of considerable cold-chain food practitioners, cold-chain food surfaces, and their internal or external packaging as well as their associated environments, aiming to explore the risk of cold-chain food being contaminated by SARS-CoV-2 and the probability of people infecting COVID-19 through contaminated cold-chain food in the context of COVID-19 epidemic. This study found that only two batches of cold-chain food were contaminated by SARS-CoV-2, none of the cold-chain food handler were infected due to effective regulatory measures for cold-chain food. Therefore, effective supervision and preventive methods could effectively reduce the transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 on cold-chain food.

Association of Early-Phase In-Hospital Glycemic Fluctuation With Mortality in Adult Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of in-hospital early-phase glycemic control with adverse outcomes among inpatients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The study is a large case series, and data were obtained regarding consecutive patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the Central Hospital of Wuhan between 2 January and 15 February 2020. All patients with definite outcomes (death or discharge) were included. Demographic, clinical, treatment, and laboratory information were extracted from electronic medical records. We collected daily fasting glucose data from standard morning fasting blood biochemistry to determine glycemic status and fluctuation (calculated as the square root of the variance of daily fasting glucose levels) during the 1st week of hospitalization. RESULTS: A total of 548 patients were included in the study (median age 57 years; 298 [54%] were women, and n = 99 had diabetes [18%]), 215 suffered acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), 489 survived, and 59 died. Patients who had higher mean levels of glucose during their 1st week of hospitalization were older and more likely to have a comorbidity and abnormal laboratory markers, prolonged hospital stays, increased expenses, and greater risks of severe pneumonia, ARDS, and death. Compared with patients with the lowest quartile of glycemic fluctuation, those who had the highest quartile of fluctuation magnitude had an increased risk of ARDS (risk ratio 1.97 [95% CI 1.01, 4.04]) and mortality (hazard ratio 2.73 [95% CI 1.06, 7.73]). CONCLUSIONS: These results may have implications for optimizing glycemic control strategies in COVID-19 patients during the early phase of hospitalization.

Association between iron status and the risk of adverse outcomes in COVID-19.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Iron is an essential trace element to almost all organism, and the delicate balance between host defend system and viral proliferation plays an important role in infective conditions. While the association of the iron metabolism with the prognosis of COVID-19 remains poorly understood. We aimed to estimate the associations of systemic iron metabolism parameters with the severity and risks of adverse outcomes in COVID-19. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we included 158 confirmed COVID-19 patients in Tongji Hospital, Wuhan, China (27 January to 5 April, 2020). Demographic data, comorbidities, laboratory examinations, treatments, and clinical outcomes were all collected. Multivariable Poisson regression was used to estimate the association of iron parameter levels with the severity and risks of adverse outcomes in COVID-19 patients. RESULTS: We identified 60 (38%) severe cases in 158 COVID-19 patients. The median age was 63 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 54-73) and the median length of hospital stay was 28 days (IQR: 17-40). After adjusting for age, sex, IL-6, and pre-existing comorbidities, all iron parameters were associated with the severity of COVID-19 with adjusted risk ratio of 0.42 [95% CI: 0.22-0.83], 4.38 [95% CI: 1.86-10.33], 0.19 [95% CI: 0.08-0.48], and 0.25 [95% CI: 0.10-0.58] for serum iron, ferritin, transferrin, and total iron-binding capacity, respectively. These iron indices were also related to the risk of ARDS, coagulopathy, acute cardiac injury, acute liver injury, and acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients and high cytokine concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with low serum iron status likely suffered from severe condition and multiple-organ injury in COVID-19. The iron metabolism parameters might be risk factors and clinical biomarkers for COVID-19 prognosis.