ABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global public health problem due to its highly contagious nature. This article aims to discuss the current situation of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, and to provide a basis for traditional Chinese medicine research and scientific and standardized treatment of COVID-19. In this article, the etiology, pathogenesis, treatment plan and research progress were summarized, analyzed and concluded by retrieving and reviewing the literature and clinical reports related to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 with traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine has obvious effects in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, improvement of clinical symptoms, and control of disease progression, which had the unique advantages of mild curative efficacy and safety. It has important practical significance in relieving patients' early symptoms and reducing the incidence of progression from mild to severe, and had great potential for development in the treatment of COVID-19. The traditional Chinese medicine intervention and the formulation of diagnosis and treatment plans for the COVID-19 need to be continuously optimized and improved. Scientific and rational application of traditional Chinese medicine to prevent and treat COVID-19, optimization diagnosis and treatment programs, and in-depth exploration of pharmacological mechanisms, especially the provide reference for early intervention of new coronavirus pneumonia by traditional Chinese medicine, the control of disease progression in the middle stage, and improve prognosis in the late stage with Western medicine. © 2022 Editorial Office of Chinese Journal of Schistosomiasis Control. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
To analyze the mechanism of novel coronavirus prevention prescription in Hunan province by using network pharmacology method. Methods TCMSP, Batman-TCM and ETCM were used to retrieve drug composition and target information, and GeneCards, OMIM, DrugBank, TTD and PharmGkb were used to screen disease targets. The visualization network diagram of "drug-active component-target" was constructed by Cytoscape, the protein interaction network was drawn by STRING, the core targets of PPI network were analyzed by CytoNCA, GO function and KEGG pathway were analyzed, and the mechanism of action was predicted. Results A total of 418 active ingredients, 1 715 drug targets, 1 289 disease targets and 266 intersection targets were screened out. Quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol, baicalein, ursolic acid and naringin were identified as the key components, and 6 core targets were obtained: RELA, AKT1, STAT3, JUN, MAPK1 and MAPK3. The results of molecular docking showed that the binding potential and activity of the key active ingredients to the core target were good. Conclusions "Child prevention formula" has the characteristics of multi-target, multi-approach and multi-faceted prevention and treatment, which plays a role in prevention and treatment of COVID-19 among children. Copyright © 2022 Publication Centre of Anhui Medical University. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: COVID-19, a disease typified by primary respiratory failure, lacks level one evidence on the most appropriate ventilation strategy when patients require critical care.1 The first wave in the United Kingdom (March -May 2020) was associated with early intubation due to lack of resources, infection control issues and poor evidence for non-invasive ventilation (NIV). With the availability of more knowledge, NIV was utilised in the second wave (December 2020 -February 2021). This strategy however, delayed intubation for the subgroup of patients who failed the NIV trial. At our institution, the first wave was characterised by early intubation, and the second wave by late intubation. Objectives: The primary aim was to compare the mortality statistics of the two waves in our institution. The secondary aim was to identify variables that could be relative contraindications to intubation, thus contributing to the design of an intubation pathway. Methods: Retrospective observational study. Inclusion criteria -COVID-19 patients requiring critical care (HDU or ICU) during the first and second wave. Variables included: date of admission (DOA), age, gender, date of intubation, comorbidity burden and survival status (obtained from the trust digital records). These variables were compared between the two groups using an excel spreadsheet. Results: ∗The high mortality rate is a reflection of the patient group who presented in extremis having failed an NIV trial and had worsening disease progression. Often failure to deteriorate rapidly whilst on NIV inadvertently 'delayed' intubation. The gender distribution between the two groups was identical with 1/3 female and 2/3 male. The comorbidity burden was also very similar. The strongest risk factor for mortality in the intubated cohort was age, with those aged over 65 having the worst outcome -Mortality Rate 93% (28/30). Conclusion: At our institution there was no mortality difference between the two waves. The second wave was characterised by predominant NIV usage, resulting in a smaller percentage of people requiring intubation. This had major logistical and cost saving benefits as less patients required level 3 care. The early vs late intubation strategy seems to have no bearing on overall mortality, suggesting disease progression plays a more important role in outcome than ventilation modality. COVID-19 is likely to be endemic in the population,2 thus devising a critical care pathway is essential to ensure standardisation of care and optimising patient outcomes. The two waves have been characterised by extremes in approach. Our new pathway aims to take the middle ground of intubating at around day 5. This will allow the benefits of the NIV trial but also detect those deteriorating earlier. Relative contraindication to intubation will be age >65 years. In summary, this study highlights the benefits of adopting a primary NIV strategy with the caveat that there is a small group of patients who deteriorate irrespective of treatments offered. To ensure the best opportunity for those with severe disease progression, a middle ground of intubating at around day 5 seems the most strategic future approach.
ABSTRACT
Governments across the world have implemented restrictive policies to slow the spread of COVID-19. Recommended face mask use has been a controversially discussed policy, among others, due to potential adverse effects on physical distancing. Using a randomized field experiment (N = 300), we show that individuals kept a significantly larger distance from someone wearing a face mask than from an unmasked person during the early days of the pandemic. According to an additional survey experiment (N = 456) conducted at the time, masked individuals were not perceived as being more infectious than unmasked ones, but they were believed to prefer more distancing. This result suggests that wearing a mask served as a social signal that led others to increase the distance they kept. Our findings provide evidence against the claim that mask use creates a false sense of security that would negatively affect physical distancing. Furthermore, our results suggest that behavior has informational content that may be affected by policies.