Age disparities in mental health during the COVID19 pandemic: The roles of resilience and coping.

BACKGROUND: The COVID19 pandemic has caused a mental health crisis worldwide, which may have different age-specific impacts, partly due to age-related differences in resilience and coping. The purposes of this study were to 1) identify disparities in mental distress, perceived adversities, resilience, and coping during the COVID-19 pandemic among four age groups (18-34, 35-49, 50-64, and ≥65); 2) assess the age-moderated time effect on mental distress, and 3) estimate the effects of perceived adversities on mental distress as moderated by age, resilience and coping. METHODS: Data were drawn from a longitudinal survey of a nationally representative sample (n = 7830) administered during the pandemic. Weighted mean of mental distress and adversities (perceived loneliness, perceived stress, and perceived risk), resilience, and coping were compared among different age groups. Hierarchical random-effects models were used to assess the moderated effects of adversities on mental distress. RESULTS: The youngest age group (18-34) reported the highest mental distress at baseline with the mean (standard error) as 2.70 (0.12), which showed an incremental improvement with age (2.27 (0.10), 1.88 (0.08), 1.29 (0.07) for 35-49, 50-64, and ≥65 groups respectively). The older age groups reported lower levels of loneliness and perceived stress, higher perceived risk, greater resilience, and more relaxation coping (ps < .001). Model results showed that mental distress declined slightly over time, and the downward trend was moderated by age group. Perceived adversities, alcohol, and social coping were positively,whereas resilience and relaxation were negatively associated with mental distress. Resilience and age group moderated the slope of each adversity on mental distress. CONCLUSIONS: The youngest age group appeared to be most vulnerable during the pandemic. Mental health interventions may provide resilience training to combat everyday adversities for the vulnerable individuals and empower them to achieve personal growth that challenges age boundaries.

Transition of ovarian granulosa cell tumor from a solid mass to a cystic mass in two months on MR imaging in an adult woman: A case report

Ovarian granulosa cell tumor (OGCT) is a relatively rare ovarian tumor originating from ovarian sex cord-stromal cells. It is generally believed that the tumor is mainly a solid mass in the early stage, and with the volume increasing, the tumor would undergo multiple cystic changes. But few such cases have been reported. This article reports a case of transition of ovarian granulosa cell tumor from a solid mass to a cystic mass in 2 months on MR imaging in an adult woman. In this case, a 55-year-old postmenopausal woman underwent MR imaging for irregular vaginal bleeding in March 2022, during which a 6-cm cystic-solid mass was detected in the right ovary with iso-hypo intensity on T1WI, iso-hyper intensity on T2WI, and hyper intensity on DWI. After injection of the contrast medium, the mass displayed progressive and obvious enhancement, which was diagnosed as OGCT. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the patient was unable to receive surgery in time. Two months later, the patient returned to the hospital and underwent MRI again, when a 20-cm cyst mass was detected in the pelvis, which contained little solid component at the edge. The patient was admitted and underwent a total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. The postoperative pathology confirmed the diagnosis of adult type stage IC1 OGCT. This finding may be precious in that it could help understand the initiation and progression of OGCT.

Tracking disclosure change trajectories for financial fraud detection

The global economic disruption brought by COVID-19 crisis can set a stage for the prevalence of financial statement frauds, which jeopardize the efficient functioning of capital markets. In this paper, we propose a nuanced method to detect frauds by tracking granular changes in disclosures over time. Specifically, we first align paragraphs between consecutive disclosures by their similarities. This alignment can be solved as an optimization-based matching problem. Then we identify three types of changed contents: recurrent, newly added, and deleted contents. For each type, we measure the changes in terms of fraud-relevant linguistics features, such as sentiment and uncertainties. Further, we formulate a firm's Management Discussion and Analysis change trajectory over years as a multivariate time series composed of these granular metrics. We implement a deep learning model to predict frauds using the change trajectory as an input. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our model significantly outperforms benchmark models, and its performance increases with the length of the change trajectory. Moreover, we found specific types of changes are strongly associated with frauds, including weak modal or reward words in newly added or deleted contents. Our work provides an optimization-based method to define change trajectories and trace information mutation in narratives. Finally, our study contributes to the fraud detection literature with a new predictive signal-disclosure change trajectories with an effective deep learning architecture.

Early Prediction Model for Critical Illness of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients Based on Machine Learning Techniques.

Motivation: Patients with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worsen into critical illness suddenly is a matter of great concern. Early identification and effective triaging of patients with a high risk of developing critical illness COVID-19 upon admission can aid in improving patient care, increasing the cure rate, and mitigating the burden on the medical care system. This study proposed and extended classical least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression to objectively identify clinical determination and risk factors for the early identification of patients at high risk of progression to critical illness at the time of hospital admission. Methods: In this retrospective multicenter study, data of 1,929 patients with COVID-19 were assessed. The association between laboratory characteristics measured at admission and critical illness was screened with logistic regression. LASSO logistic regression was utilized to construct predictive models for estimating the risk that a patient with COVID-19 will develop a critical illness. Results: The development cohort consisted of 1,363 patients with COVID-19 with 133 (9.7%) patients developing the critical illness. Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed 28 variables were prognosis factors for critical illness COVID-19 (p < 0.05). Elevated CK-MB, neutrophils, PCT, α-HBDH, D-dimer, LDH, glucose, PT, APTT, RDW (SD and CV), fibrinogen, and AST were predictors for the early identification of patients at high risk of progression to critical illness. Lymphopenia, a low rate of basophils, eosinophils, thrombopenia, red blood cell, hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration, blood platelet count, and decreased levels of K, Na, albumin, albumin to globulin ratio, and uric acid were clinical determinations associated with the development of critical illness at the time of hospital admission. The risk score accurately predicted critical illness in the development cohort [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.78-0.86], also in the external validation cohort (n = 566, AUC = 0.84). Conclusion: A risk prediction model based on laboratory findings of patients with COVID-19 was developed for the early identification of patients at high risk of progression to critical illness. This cohort study identified 28 indicators associated with critical illness of patients with COVID-19. The risk model might contribute to the treatment of critical illness disease as early as possible and allow for optimized use of medical resources.

Development and Validation of a Predictive Nomogram with Age and Laboratory Findings for Severe COVID-19 in Hunan Province, China.

Purpose: To identify more objectively predictive factors of severe outcome among patients hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Patients and Methods: A retrospective cohort of 479 hospitalized patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Hunan Province was selected. The prognostic effects of factors such as age and laboratory indicators were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model. A prognostic nomogram model was established to predict the progression of patients with COVID-19. Results: A total of 524 patients in Hunan province with COVID-19 from December 2019 to October 2020 were retrospectively recruited. Among them, 479 eligible patients were randomly assigned into the training cohort (n = 383) and validation cohort (n = 96), at a ratio of 8:2. Sixty-eight (17.8%) and 15 (15.6%) patients developed severe COVID-19 after admission in the training cohort and validation cohort, respectively. The differences in baseline characteristics were not statistically significant between the two cohorts with regard to age, sex, and comorbidities (P > 0.05). Multivariable analyses included age, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, lactic dehydrogenase, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, urea, albumin-to-globulin ratio, and eosinophil count as predictive factors for patients with progression to severe COVID-19. A nomogram was constructed with sufficient discriminatory power (C index = 0.81), and proper consistency between the prediction and observation, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.81 and 0.86 in the training and validation cohort, respectively. Conclusion: We proposed a simple nomogram for early detection of patients with non-severe COVID-19 but at high risk of progression to severe COVID-19, which could help optimize clinical care and personalized decision-making therapies.

Age disparities in mental health during the COVID19 pandemic: The roles of resilience and coping

Background The COVID19 pandemic has caused a mental health crisis worldwide, which may have different age-specific impacts, partly due to age-related differences in resilience and coping. The purposes of this study were to 1) identify the disparities in mental distress, perceived adversities, resilience, and coping during the COVID-19 pandemic among four age groups (18–34, 35–49, 50–64, and 65+);2) assess the age-moderated time effect on mental distress, and 3) estimate the effects of perceived adversities on mental distress as moderated by age, resilience and coping. Methods Data were drawn from a longitudinal survey of a nationally representative sample (n = 7830) administered during the pandemic. Weighted mean of mental distress and adversities (perceived loneliness, perceived stress, and perceived risk), resilience, and coping were compared among different age groups. Hierarchical random-effects models were used to assess the moderated effects of adversities on mental distress. Results The youngest age group (18–34) reported the highest mental distress at baseline with the mean (standard error) as 2.70 (0.12), which showed an incremental improvement with age (2.27 (0.10), 1.88 (0.08), 1.29 (0.07) for 35–49, 50–64, and ≥65 groups respectively). The older age groups reported lower levels of loneliness and perceived stress, higher perceived risk, greater resilience, and more relaxation coping (ps < .001). Model results showed that mental distress declined over time, and the downward trend was moderated by age group. Perceived adversities, alcohol, and social coping were positively associated with mental distress, whereas resilience and relaxation were negatively associated with it. Resilience and age group moderated the slope of each adversity on mental distress. Conclusions The youngest age group appeared to be most vulnerable during the pandemic. Mental health interventions may provide training to build resilience from everyday adversities for the vulnerable individuals and empower them to achieve personal growth that challenges age boundaries.

When Big Data Backfires: The Impact of a Perceived Privacy Breach by Pharmaceutical E-Retailers on Customer Boycott Intention in China.

The objective of this study was to explore the impact of a perceived privacy breach by pharmaceutical e-retailers on customer boycott intention, especially the mediating role of emotional violation and the moderating effect of customer previous trust. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey of 335 customers of pharmaceutical e-retailers from China. Our research results showed that a perceived privacy breach by a pharmaceutical e-retailer had no direct effect on customer boycott intention; a perceived privacy breach positively affected emotional violation; emotional violation led to customer boycott intention; emotional violation played a mediating role in the relationship between a perceived privacy breach and customer boycott intention; and customer previous trust positively moderated the mediating effect of emotional violation.

Cluster randomised controlled trial to assess a tailored intervention to reduce antibiotic prescribing in rural China: study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Up to 80% of patients with respiratory tract infections (RTI) attending healthcare facilities in rural areas of China are prescribed antibiotics, many of which are unnecessary. Since 2009, China has implemented several policies to try to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use; however, antibiotic prescribing remains high in rural health facilities. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A cluster randomised controlled trial will be carried out to estimate the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of a complex intervention in reducing antibiotic prescribing at township health centres in Anhui Province, China. 40 Township health centres will be randomised at a 1:1 ratio to the intervention or usual care arms. In the intervention group, practitioners will receive an intervention comprising: (1) training to support appropriate antibiotic prescribing for RTI, (2) a computer-based treatment decision support system, (3) virtual peer support, (4) a leaflet for patients and (5) a letter of commitment to optimise antibiotic use to display in their clinic. The primary outcome is the percentage of antibiotics (intravenous and oral) prescribed for RTI patients. Secondary outcomes include patient symptom severity and duration, recovery status, satisfaction, antibiotic consumption. A full economic evaluation will be conducted within the trial period. Costs and savings for both clinics and patients will be considered and quality of life will be measured by EuroQoL (EQ-5D-5L). A qualitative process evaluation will explore practitioner and patient views and experiences of trial processes, intervention fidelity and acceptability, and barriers and facilitators to implementation. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was obtained from the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee of Anhui Medical University (Ref: 20180259); the study has undergone due diligence checks and is registered at the University of Bristol (Ref: 2020-3137). Research findings will be disseminated to stakeholders through conferences and peer-reviewed journals in China, the UK and internationally. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN30652037.

The impact of COVID-19 on primary health care and antibiotic prescribing in rural China: qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: In China, the primary health care (PHC) system has been designated responsible for control and prevention of COVID-19, but not treatment. Suspected COVID-19 cases presenting to PHC facilities must be transferred to specialist fever clinics. This study aims to understand the impact of COVID-19 on PHC delivery and on antibiotic prescribing at a community level in rural areas of central China. METHODS: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 PHC practitioners and seven patients recruited from two township health centres and nine village clinics in two rural residential areas of Anhui province. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. RESULTS: PHC practitioners reported a major shift in their work away from seeing and treating patients (due to government-mandated referral to specialist Covid clinics) to focus on the key public health roles of tracing, screening and educating in rural areas. The additional work, risk, and financial pressure that PHC practitioners faced, placed considerable strain on them, particularly those working in village clinics. Face to face PHC provision was reduced and there was no substitution with consultations by phone or app, which practitioners attributed to the fact that most of their patients were elderly and not willing or able to switch. Practitioners saw COVID-19 as outside of their area of expertise and very different to the non-COVID-19 respiratory tract infections that they frequently treated pre-pandemic. They reported that antibiotic prescribing was reduced overall because far fewer patients were attending rural PHC facilities, but otherwise their antibiotic prescribing practices remained unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic had considerable impact on PHC in rural China. Practitioners took on substantial additional workload as part of epidemic control and fewer patients were seen in PHC. The reduction in patients seen and treated in PHC led to a reduction in antibiotic prescribing, although clinical practice remains unchanged. Since COVID-19 epidemic control work has been designated as a long-term task in China, rural PHC clinics now face the challenge of how to balance their principal clinical and increased public health roles and, in the case of the village clinics, remain financially viable.

First case of low-dose umbilical cord blood therapy for pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome induced by Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to present the case of a boy with acute distress syndrome (ARDS) treated with low-dose umbilical cord blood (UCB) therapy and explore the underlying possible mechanism. METHODS: A 7-year-old boy with severe Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and severe ARDS was treated with allogeneic UCB as salvage therapy. RESULTS: The patient did not improve after being treated with lung protective ventilation, pulmonary surfactant replacement, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for 30 days. However, his disease reversed 5 days after allogeneic UCB infusion, and he weaned from ECMO after 7 days of infusion. Bioinformatics confirmed that his Toll-like receptor (TLR) was abnormal before UCB infusion. However, after the infusion, his immune system was activated and repaired, and the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway was recovered. CONCLUSION: Allogenic UCB could treat ARDS by repairing the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway, thereby achieving stability of the immune system.

Genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in the UAE reveals novel virus mutation, patterns of co-infection and tissue specific host immune response.

To unravel the source of SARS-CoV-2 introduction and the pattern of its spreading and evolution in the United Arab Emirates, we conducted meta-transcriptome sequencing of 1067 nasopharyngeal swab samples collected between May 9th and Jun 29th, 2020 during the first peak of the local COVID-19 epidemic. We identified global clade distribution and eleven novel genetic variants that were almost absent in the rest of the world and that defined five subclades specific to the UAE viral population. Cross-settlement human-to-human transmission was related to the local business activity. Perhaps surprisingly, at least 5% of the population were co-infected by SARS-CoV-2 of multiple clades within the same host. We also discovered an enrichment of cytosine-to-uracil mutation among the viral population collected from the nasopharynx, that is different from the adenosine-to-inosine change previously reported in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples and a previously unidentified upregulation of APOBEC4 expression in nasopharynx among infected patients, indicating the innate immune host response mediated by ADAR and APOBEC gene families could be tissue-specific. The genomic epidemiological and molecular biological knowledge reported here provides new insights for the SARS-CoV-2 evolution and transmission and points out future direction on host-pathogen interaction investigation.

The Application of Digital Design Combined with 3D Printing Technology in Skin Flap Transplantation for Fingertip Defects during the COVID-19 Epidemic.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the advantages of preoperative digital design of skin flaps to repair fingertip defects during the COVID-19 pandemic. We combined digital design with a 3D-printed model of the affected finger for preoperative communication with fingertip defect patients under observation in a buffer ward. METHODS: From December 2019 to January 2021, we obtained data from 25 cases of 30 fingertip defects in 15 males and 10 females, aged 20-65 years old (mean 35 ± 5 years). All cases were treated by digitally designing preoperative fingertip defect flaps combined with a 3D-printed model. Preoperative 3D Systems Sense scanning was routinely performed, 3-matic 12.0 was used to measure the fingertip defect area ranging from 1.5 cm × 3.5 cm to 2.0 cm × 5.0 cm, and the skin flap was designed. The flap area was 1.6 cm × 3.6 cm to 2.1 cm × 5.1 cm. CURA 15.02.1 was used to set parameters, and the 3D model of the affected finger was printed prior to the operation. Full-thickness skin grafts were taken from donor areas for repair. RESULTS: No vascular crises occurred in any of the 25 cases, and all flaps survived. The postoperative follow-up occurred over 3-12 months. All patients were evaluated 3 months after operation according to the trial standard of hand function evaluation of the Chinese Hand Surgery Society. The results showed that 20 cases had excellent outcomes (80%), four cases had good outcomes (16%), and one case had a fair outcome (4%). The excellent and good rate was 96%. CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 epidemic, fingertip defects were treated with preoperative digital design of fingertip defect flaps combined with 3D printing. Precision design saves surgery time and improves the success rate of surgery and the survival rates of skin flaps. In addition, 3D model simulations improve preoperative communication efficiency, and the personalized design improves patient satisfaction.

Clinical significance of detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid in patients with COVID-19

Objective: To investigate the significance of the detection results of different types of samples in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of new coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) and the prevention and control of epidemic situation.

Acceptability of a community health worker intervention to improve the oral health of older Chinese Americans: A pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the acceptability of a community health worker (CHW) intervention designed to improve the oral health of low-income, urban Chinese immigrant adults. BACKGROUND: Given that both dental caries and periodontitis are behaviourally mediated, biofilm-based diseases that are largely preventable with attention to regular oral hygiene practices and preventive dental visits, strategies to arrest or even heal carious lesions and high-quality maintenance care and plaque control without the need to resort to aerosol-generating surgical approaches are evidence-based best practices. Older immigrants have poorer oral health than older US-born natives, motivating the need for delivery of more effective and affordable services to this vulnerable population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CHWs were trained by the NYU College of Dentistry dental hygienist faculty members using dental models and flip charts to instruct patients on proper brushing and flossing techniques. In addition, they discussed the presented oral health promotion information one-on-one with patients, addressed any expressed concerns and encouraged prevention of oral conditions through regular dental visits and brushing with fluoride toothpaste. RESULTS: More than 98% of the 74 older Chinese adult participants strongly agreed/agreed that the CHWs helped them to improve how they take care of their health, the CHWs answered their questions and concerns, the information and topics were informative, and the in-person demonstrations were helpful in improving oral health. CONCLUSION: The health of all communities depends on access to comprehensive care, including oral health care, in the wake of COVID-19. CHW interventions are acceptable to and may reach marginalised and immigrant communities.

Initial whole-genome sequencing and analysis of the host genetic contribution to COVID-19 severity and susceptibility.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accounted for millions of infections and hundreds of thousand deaths worldwide in a short-time period. The patients demonstrate a great diversity in clinical and laboratory manifestations and disease severity. Nonetheless, little is known about the host genetic contribution to the observed interindividual phenotypic variability. Here, we report the first host genetic study in the Chinese population by deeply sequencing and analyzing 332 COVID-19 patients categorized by varying levels of severity from the Shenzhen Third People's Hospital. Upon a total of 22.2 million genetic variants, we conducted both single-variant and gene-based association tests among five severity groups including asymptomatic, mild, moderate, severe, and critical ill patients after the correction of potential confounding factors. Pedigree analysis suggested a potential monogenic effect of loss of function variants in GOLGA3 and DPP7 for critically ill and asymptomatic disease demonstration. Genome-wide association study suggests the most significant gene locus associated with severity were located in TMEM189-UBE2V1 that involved in the IL-1 signaling pathway. The p.Val197Met missense variant that affects the stability of the TMPRSS2 protein displays a decreasing allele frequency among the severe patients compared to the mild and the general population. We identified that the HLA-A*11:01, B*51:01, and C*14:02 alleles significantly predispose the worst outcome of the patients. This initial genomic study of Chinese patients provides genetic insights into the phenotypic difference among the COVID-19 patient groups and highlighted genes and variants that may help guide targeted efforts in containing the outbreak. Limitations and advantages of the study were also reviewed to guide future international efforts on elucidating the genetic architecture of host-pathogen interaction for COVID-19 and other infectious and complex diseases.

Dynamic changes in serum IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 are associated with the outcome of patients with severe COVID-19 in ICU (preprint)

Background: Biomarkers that would help prognosticate outcomes and guide treatment of patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are currently required. We aimed to investigate whether the dynamic variation of cytokines was associated with the survival of patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU).Methods: A retrospective study was performed on 40 patients with COVID-19 admitted to an ICU in Wuhan, China. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory variables were collected, and serum cytokines were kinetically assessed. A multivariable- adjusted generalized linear regression model was used to evaluate the differences in serum cytokine levels between survivor and non-survivors.Results: Among the 40 patients included, a significant positive correlation was found between multiple cytokines. Serum levels of IL-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor alpha in non-survivors were consistently elevated compared to that of the survivors. Kinetic variations of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 were associated with a fatal outcome in severe patients with COVID-19, independent of sex, age, absolute lymphocyte count, direct bilirubin, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer.Conclusion: Dynamic changes in serum IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 levels were associated with survival in ICU and could serve as a predictive biomarker in patients with severe COVID-19 to determine therapeutic options.

Risk of Metformin in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes With COVID-19: A Preliminary Retrospective Report.

The current outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has spread across the world. No specific antiviral agents have been adequately evidenced for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although metformin has been recommended as a host-directed therapy for COVID-19, there are some opposite views. The effects of metformin on the disease severity of patients with COVID-19 with diabetes during hospitalization remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the effect of metformin on disease severity. We enrolled 110 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 with diabetes prescribed either metformin or non-metformin hypoglycemic treatment for a case-control study. The primary outcome was the occurrence of life-threatening complications. There were no differences between the two groups in age, sex, comorbidities, and clinical severity at admission. Blood glucose and lactate dehydrogenase levels of the metformin group were higher than those of the non-metformin group at admission. Other laboratory parameters at admission and treatments after admission were not different between the two groups. Strikingly, the percentage of patients who experienced life-threatening complications was significantly higher in the metformin group (28.6% (16/56) vs. 7.4% (4/54), P = 0.004). Antidiabetic therapy with metformin was associated with a higher risk of disease progression in patients with COVID-19 with diabetes during hospitalization (adjusted odds ratio = 3.964, 95% confidence interval 1.034-15.194, P = 0.045). This retrospective analysis suggested a potential safety signal for metformin, the use of which was associated with a higher risk of severe COVID-19. We propose that metformin withdrawal in patients with COVID-19 be considered to prevent disease progression.

Chest CT Findings of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The aim of this study was to investigate the chest CT findings of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from January to February 2020. CT features of six cases, confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with COVID-19 disease, were evaluated. Of the six patients, one patient had normal scan. One patient had ground glass opacity only, while the rest four patients mainly had ground glass opacity accompanied by consolidation. Moreover, air bronchogram, crazy paving and reversed halo sign could be seen in 5, 3 and 1 patient, respectively. Lesions in three patients were only located in the peripheral area, while of two patients, were mainly located in the peripheral area with involvement of the center along with bronchovascular bundles. While one patient had enlarged mediastinal nodes, no one had pleural effusion. CT can be used as the first choice for early diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia. Key Words: Pneumonia, Lung CT scan, COVID-19, Coronavirus infection.