Using different technologies and gamification to deliver active learning strategies on caries detection training during pandemics – case study and economic impact of two dental schools experiences (preprint)

Background In 2020, due to the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, the teaching methodologies had to be adapted to allow social distancing and avoid contamination at universities. Technology was an important aid to cross those barriers. This study describes and assesses the economic impact of including information and communication technology (ICT) in adapting educational activities at two universities during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods Dental School of the University of São Paulo (FOUSP) in Brazil and The Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) in the United States are engaged in Initiatives for Undergraduate Students' Training in Cariology (IuSTC). Their educational staff modified teaching approaches to continue training dental students for caries detection with tutored and active learning strategies using available ICTs. Resources used during the activities were valued considering the perspective of the educational Institution. The costs of implementing the adapted methodologies were valued in the local currency and converted to international dollars.Results Teaching methods for caries detection during the pandemic were implemented by hybrid teaching models, mixing online and in-person activities. The ICT strategies were created based on a previous base methodology, part of IuSTC. The innovative approaches included gamification and virtual laboratory (FOUSP, n = 80), virtual classes, and online feedback (IUSD, n = 105) to engage the students using active learning methodologies. Both institutions successfully taught a complete group of students during the pandemic. The cost of developing and delivering the adapted teaching methodologies was about $64 to $71 per student for the FOUSP and $78 per student for the IUSD. In the overall cost composition, values assigned to facilities and instructional materials were less significant. Even based on ICT, human resources in teaching strategies represented the most expensive ingredient for both institutions, constituting 95% and 51% of the expenses for FOUSP and IUSD, respectively. Some adaptations have been used after pandemic control.Conclusions The adaptations based on ICT permit the institutions to proceed with their active methodologies, given the barriers imposed by the pandemic. The imposed challenge demanded creativity and a considerable university investment, but the benefits surpassed the pandemic.Trial registration IuSTC-01: https://doi.org/10.2196/resprot.7414. Economic analysis associated with IuSTC-01: www.osf.io/wa6x2.

Outbreak.info genomic reports: scalable and dynamic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants and mutations (preprint)

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern has prompted the need for near real-time genomic surveillance to inform public health interventions. In response to this need, the global scientific community, through unprecedented effort, has sequenced and shared over 11 million genomes through GISAID, as of May 2022. This extraordinarily high sampling rate provides a unique opportunity to track the evolution of the virus in near real-time. Here, we present outbreak.info, a platform that currently tracks over 40 million combinations of PANGO lineages and individual mutations, across over 7,000 locations, to provide insights for researchers, public health officials, and the general public. We describe the interpretable and opinionated visualizations in the variant and location focussed reports available in our web application, the pipelines that enable the scalable ingestion of heterogeneous sources of SARS-CoV-2 variant data, and the server infrastructure that enables widespread data dissemination via a high performance API that can be accessed using an R package. We present a case study that illustrates how outbreak.info can be used for genomic surveillance and as a hypothesis generation tool to understand the ongoing pandemic at varying geographic and temporal scales. With an emphasis on scalability, interactivity, interpretability, and reusability, outbreak.info provides a template to enable genomic surveillance at a global and localized scale.

SARS-CoV-2 identification in an acute appendicitis case: Acute abdomen as manifestation of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in a child with COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a global health emergency. The clinical course of COVID-19 in children is mild in most of the cases, but multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is recognized as a potential life-threatening complication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Acute abdomen as a presentation of COVID-19 is rare, and its correlation to COVID-19 features and prognosis remains undetermined. Herein, we describe a case of appendicitis in a child with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 and subsequent SARS-CoV-2 identification in appendix tissue.