Acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination and influencing factors among people living with HIV in Guangxi, China: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Vaccination has been proven to be an effective approach against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to determine the acceptance rate and factors influencing acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination among people living with HIV (PLWH) in Guangxi, China. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in five cities in Guangxi, China from May 7 to June 1, 2021. Questionnaires on the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination and the related factors were conducted among PLWH recruited by simple random sampling. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination. RESULTS: Of all valid respondents (n = 903), 72.9% (n = 658) were willing to receive COVID-19 vaccination. Fear of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection was the main reason for being willing to receive vaccination (76.0%), while the main reasons for not willing were the concerns about vaccine safety (54.7%) and the vaccination's effect on antiretroviral therapy (ART) (50.6%). The most important factors influencing acceptance were the perception that vaccination is unsafe for HIV-infected people (aOR = 0.082, 95% CI = 0.024-0.282) and the poor efficacy in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in HIV-infected people (aOR = 0.093, 95% CI = 0.030-0.287). Other factors associated with acceptance included Zhuang ethnicity (aOR = 1.653, 95% CI = 1.109-2.465), highest education level of middle school, high school or above (aOR = 1.747, 95% CI = 1.170-2.608; aOR = 2.492, 95% CI = 1.326-4.682), and the vaccination having little effect on ART efficacy (aOR = 2.889, 95% CI = 1.378-6.059). CONCLUSIONS: Acceptance rate of the COVID-19 vaccination is relatively low among PLWH compared to the general population in China, although some patients refused vaccination due to concerns about vaccine safety and vaccination affecting ART efficacy. More research is needed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 vaccines on ART efficacy and the effectiveness in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection among PLWH.

Multimode participation of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of COVID-19 has swiftly spread across China and all over the world, resulting in severe contagious pneumonia. However, no specific anti-COVID-19 drugs or methods are available for the treatment of this acute and fatal disease. In recent years, as the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) have been universally acknowledged, it has been brought to a crucial status domestically and overseas for the treatment of COVID-19. METHODS: We searched relevant literature, electronic databases, and official statements, diagnoses and protocols to retrieve studies and applications related to traditional Chinese medicine for COVID-19 in terms of regulations and policies, clinical evidence, preclinical rationale and big data analysis and then summarized the discovery and development of potential drugs and their targets. RESULTS: Clinicians, researchers, governments, the public, colleges, institutes and companies collected and classified associated policies, regulations and actual contributions, searched clinical trials and preclinical experimental outcomes from databases, studied potential TCM drugs with possible mechanisms, retrieved numerous big data analysis method and gathered pooled results of compounds along with their effective targets to make traditional Chinese medicine vital to cover all stages of patients in the treatment and control of COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Traditional Chinese medicine provides new evidence to support the clinical value of TCM for COVID-19.

Differential diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia or influenza A pneumonia by clinical characteristics and laboratory findings.

BACKGROUND: Pneumonia caused by the 2019 novel Coronavirus (COVID-2019) shares overlapping signs and symptoms, laboratory findings, imaging features with influenza A pneumonia. We aimed to identify their clinical characteristics to help early diagnosis. METHODS: We retrospectively retrieved data for laboratory-confirmed patients admitted with COVID-19-induced or influenza A-induced pneumonia from electronic medical records in Ningbo First Hospital, China. We recorded patients' epidemiological and clinical features, as well as radiologic and laboratory findings. RESULTS: The median age of influenza A cohort was higher and it exhibited higher temperature and higher proportion of pleural effusion. COVID-19 cohort exhibited higher proportions of fatigue, diarrhea and ground-glass opacity and higher levels of lymphocyte percentage, absolute lymphocyte count, red-cell count, hemoglobin and albumin and presented lower levels of monocytes, c-reactive protein, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, serum creatinine. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that fatigue, ground-glass opacity, and higher level of albumin were independent risk factors for COVID-19 pneumonia, while older age, higher temperature, and higher level of monocyte count were independent risk factors for influenza A pneumonia. CONCLUSIONS: In terms of COVID-19 pneumonia and influenza A pneumonia, fatigue, ground-glass opacity, and higher level of albumin tend to be helpful for diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia, while older age, higher temperature, and higher level of monocyte count tend to be helpful for the diagnosis of influenza A pneumonia.