ABSTRACT
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on love, marriage and family life. Employing both social science and cultural studies perspectives, this article discusses romantic and familial relationships and their respective depictions in four Japanese romantic dramas (ren’ai dorama) produced under pandemic conditions. It touches upon the COVID-19 pandemic and related policies in J apan, el aborat es on condi t i ons of TV production during the pandemic, and asks: How have TV series addressed love, dating and (marital) relationships during the pandemic? How di d the pandemi c and concomi tant policies impact depictions of these topics? Finally, what do these dramas reveal about the state of domestic gender relations and gender equality in the context of changing working condi t i ons and st ay-at-home pol i ci es implemented during the pandemic? The article i dent i f i es a t rend consi st ent wi t h ‘ re-tradi ti onal i zati on’ on the one hand, and depictions of diverse, unconventional relational practi ces that are cri ti cal of the mari tal institution on the other. While the dramas touch on the i mpact of the pandemi c on women’s livelihoods and gender equality, more serious consequences remain unexplored. © 2022, Japan Focus. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a viral infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and transmitted mainly via respiratory droplets. It is associated with several risk factors for nosocomial spread, including low sensitivity of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (PT-PCR) testing and a nonspecific clinical presentation, mimicking other respiratory pathogens. Early isolation precautions and accurate testing are therefore crucial in preventing the spread of nosocomial infection. This case of an elderly, 80-year-old man, discusses one of the first reported cases of COVID-19 in Texas and addresses the topics of nosocomial spread due to inaccurate RT-PCR testing, underused isolation precautions, and atypical presentation in extremes of age. Recommendations include (1) early isolation precautions for any hospitalized patient who begins exhibiting respiratory symptoms with continued isolation precautions throughout the hospital course and (2) thorough clinical investigation of symptomatic patients with negative RT-PCR results using computed tomography chest imaging and basic laboratory findings. Early isolation precautions and accurate diagnosis of disease are crucial to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19. © Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Cytokine release storm (CRS) is a potentially fatal, hyperinflammatory condition common to both coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and reactive hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (rHLH). We present our experience with the use of a diagnostic score, developed for rHLH, in a kidney transplant recipient hospitalized with COVID-19. METHODS: We applied the H-Score to risk-stratify our patient to help predict his hospital course. This study was exempt from requiring specific Institutional Review Board approval, but met all the criteria required by our institution for this type of study and report including consent from the patient. RESULTS: The calculated H-Score for our patient fell below the diagnostic cut-off value for rHLH. Because rHLH is characterized by CRS, we expected him to have a milder hospital course with COVID-19. Correlating with his below cut-off H-score, the patient had a more benign than expected hospital course. CONCLUSIONS: Because this is only a single case, we plan to retrospectively review a series of patients to validate our initial experience-that a low H-Score may correlate with a milder hospital course in kidney transplant patients with COVID-19.