Pandemic, populism, and polarisation

The chapter focuses on how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem of misinformation in contemporary democracy. As a consequence of the pandemic, the political context has suffered an earthquake that, moving between paralysis and emergency, has brought to light some of the substantive debates about the role of democracy today in Europe. As a consequence of the debate, there are three major fields in which populism has been able to advance during the pandemic: the efficacy vs. legitimacy debate, the freedom vs. security debate, and the debate between institutional guarantee and the need for responses. All these three elements affect key elements of democracy such as the separation of powers, respect for human rights, and the holding of fair and periodic elections, and disinformation has contributed to generating a climate in which the different political actors have been able to contribute to these threats to democracy. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Alveolar macrophages from people with severe eosinophilic asthma show differential antiviral responses to human rhinovirus 16 and SARS-CoV-2

Background: Rhinovirus is the most common trigger for exacerbations of asthma. Alveolar macrophages (AM) are a major site of RV infection and can also be infected by SARS-CoV-2. The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 raised concerns that patients with severe asthma (SA) would be at particularly high risk of developing severe disease. To date, evidence for poor outcomes in asthma remains limited suggesting a differential immune response to these two viruses. Method(s): Alveolar macrophages (AM) were isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage samples from patients with SA and infected with RV (n=13), SARS-CoV-2 alpha (B.1.1.7) (n=9) and delta (B.1.627.2)(n=8) variants. Antiviral mediators representing NF-KB-induced interferon-driven mRNAs (IL6 and IL8, RIGI and MDA5, respectively) were measured by qPCR, normalised to GAPDH and compared between infected AM and controls. Result(s): RV infected AM showed significant increases in mRNA expression of RIGI (4.39 fold change +/-4.68, p<0.001 vs control), MDA5 (2.96 fold change +/- 2.93, p=0.002 vs control) and IL6 (1.88 fold change +/- 0.98, p=0.006) compared to AM treated with control media alone, whilst IL8 did not significantly change. However, AM infected with SARS-CoV-2 alpha or delta variants showed no difference in levels of antiviral mediators compared to controls. Longitudinal analysis of AMs infected with SARS-CoV-2 alpha or delta variants showed no antiviral response. Conclusion(s): AM from subjects with severe asthma produce a pattern of anti-viral responses following RV infection that is absent when exposed to SARS-CoV-2 variants currently in circulation.

Hospital and Intensive Care Admissions and Mortality Due to 24 Months of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Adult Patients >=40 Years with Haemophilia in Europe

Introduction: The Age-related DeVelopments ANd Comorbidities in haemophilia (ADVANCE) Working Group is a European collaboration of over 20 Haemophilia Treatment Centres (HTCs) that focuses on the management of PWH aged >=40 years. As it soon became apparent that the risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 infection was increased in older adults, we aimed to identify the incidence, severity and outcomes of COVID-19 inPWHaged >=40 years treated at ADVANCE centres. Method(s): The number of hospital admissions, ICU admissions and deaths due to COVID-19 was recorded retrospectively via survey for all patients aged >=40 years with haemophilia A or B at ADVANCE HTCs throughout the pandemic over a 24-month period (until 30 April 2022). Patient numbers were recorded for the most serious outcome at month/year of first occurrence. Aggregated data was provided as requested by Ethical Committees. For reported cases, information on age, comorbidities and risk factors for severeCOVID-19 infection were collected where available. Result(s): Of the overall haemophilia A and B population, 36/4166 suffered a serious outcome due to COVID-19 infection;27 required hospital admission, 5 were admitted to the ICU and 4 died (3 with haemophilia A and 1 with haemophilia B). Nearly all patients with haemophilia A who were admitted to the ICU or died had >=1 comorbidity associated with worse outcomes. Most reported cases occurred early in the pandemic with no clear distinction according to haemophilia severity or age. Discussion/Conclusion: This is the first study to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on PWH >=40 years in terms of severe adverse clinical outcomes. Although only limited data were collected, the study provides reassurance that the haemophilia population was not at risk of more serious outcomes due to their haemophilia alone.

Medical education, changing with change once again: reengineering or resetting?

The issue of medical training in the face of change is not new. In this work, the author's ideas are exposed about the changes that are considered necessary in our medical education to try to answer the current complex context of the world, the society and the health profile, in search of the doctor's training that we need. The current context of medical practice in the world and in Cuban health services in recent decades is reviewed, as well as the main transformations that occurred in medical education during this stage in the country. A series of questions are raised related to the training of doctors today, also regarding the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic. Faced with the proposal to "change what has to be changed" in Cuban medical education, it is estimated that there are three aspects that will transcend any modification in our country: care-teaching-research integration as an organizational-structural-functional axis;education at work as an essential driver of the teaching-educational process and prioritizing the comprehensive training of future health professionals, not just scientific-technical education. Reformat? No, it would be start all over again, erasing everything that was built with so much effort and with good results. Reengineering? Yes, renewal of processes, be careful with what should change and what should remain untouched. It is recommended throughout this process to conjugate the "magic verbs": think, study, work, be passionate, share, serve and love.

Altmetric analysis of COVID-19 research published in 2020

The alarming spread of COVID-19 has generated unprecedented scientific output in response to the search for treatments and vaccines to help curb the pandemic. The media, social and scientific networks have become a prime stage for the dissemination of academic publications and, consequently, potential tools to assess the social impact of research on COVID-19. The present work proposes to analyze the impact and use of publications in social and scientific networks through the use of altmetric indicators. The Dimensions and Altmetric.com databases are used as tools for the analysis of scientific production and the online attention received. The results show a predominance of Twitter mentions, followed by readings and citations in Mendeley and Dimensions. The topics with the most attention were related to treatments, transmission routes, symptoms, deaths and vaccines. © 2022. CSIC. All Rights Reserved.

Academic and social impact of COVID-19 research in Dimensions database

Introduction: The need for immediate evidence and reliable results of COVID-19 has generated an unprecedented revolution in scientific communication systems. It is a real race of science against the expansion of the new coronavirus that generates impacts in all areas. Objective: To analyze the academic and social impact of the scientific results of COVID-19 in Dimensions database. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional observational and descriptive study was conducted. The study analyzed the presence, productivity and influence of research on COVID-19, as well as its impact and use in social and scientific platforms through bibliometric and altmetric indicators. Results: In total, 84.3 % are articles published in scientific journals, 14 % correspond to preprints, and 82.2 % of the publications are open access articles. The publications reach a high number of citations and high altmetric scores with a predominance of activity on Twitter. Conclusions: Scientific research on COVID-19 has been published, mainly directly and in openly available thematic or institutional repositories. There are correlations regarding the academic and social impact of works published in high impact journals;however, the analysis at the article level shows a low correspondence between citations and mentions on social networks. © 2021 Universidad de Ciencias Medicas de La Hab. All rights reserved.

Evolution and trends in communication research about epidemics and pandemics at the international level

Communication research in times of epidemics and pandemics is an important factor in prevention, treatment and recovery. The study presented analyzes the behavior of communication research about epidemics and pandemics through the scientific production registered in the Scopus database. Indicators are used to assess general publication trends at the country, institutional, author, journal and article level. The prevailing themes and their evolution over time are examined, as well as the evolution in the groups and associated research fronts. The results show a trend towards the growth of publications with a higher concentration in 2020. The number of publications by countries, institutions, authors and journals is discrete, therefore, it is an area of knowledge that requires greater scientific research and international collaboration. Five major thematic groups, main emerging research focuses, related to health communication during epidemics, social attitudes towards health, communi cation during influenza A H1N1 and the COVID-19 pandemic, and epidemiological information on social networks were identified. The critical points of research in the field during the 30 years recorded in the Scopus database allow us to infer that communication about epidemics and pandemics should become the focus of research in the area of risk communication in the near future. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] La investigación sobre comunicación en tiempos de epidemias y pandemias constituye un factor trascendental en la prevención, tratamiento y recuperación. El estudio que se presenta, analiza el comportamiento de la investigación en comunicación sobre epidemias y pandemias a través de la producción científica registrada en la base de datos Scopus. Se emplean indicadores para evaluar las tendencias generales de publicación a nivel de país, instituciones, autores, revistas y artículos. Se examinan los temas preponderantes y su evolución temporal, así como, la evolución en los grupos y frentes de investigación asociados. Los resultados muestran una tendencia al crecimiento de publicaciones con una mayor concentración en el 2020. El número de publicaciones por países, instituciones, autores y revistas es discreto, por lo que, es un área de conocimientos que requiere mayor investigación científica y colaboración internacional. Se identificaron 5 grandes grupos temáticos, principales focos emergentes de investigación, relacionados con la comunicación de salud durante epidemias, las actitudes sociales hacia la salud, la comunicación durante la influenza A H1N1 y la pandemia COVID-19 y la información epidemiológica en redes sociales. Los puntos críticos de investigación en el campo durante los 30 años registrados en la base de datos Scopus permiten inferir, que la comunicación sobre epidemias y pandemias debe convertirse en foco de la investigación en el área de comunicación de riesgos en un futuro próximo. (Spanish) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Revista de Comunicación is the property of Revista de Comunicacion-Universidad de Piura and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Metric analysis of the scientific production about COVID-19 in scopus

Research about COVID-19 is the main scientific activity carried out at present. It is crucial to determine the productivity and visibility of research results associated to this disease. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the scientific production about COVID-19 recorded in the database Scopus in the period 2019-April 2020. The study universe was all the open access papers about COVID-19 included in the database. The analysis was based on bibliometric indicators (number of papers, authors, year of publication, SJR, co-authorship networks and co-occurrence of terms and H index) and altmetric indicators (number of citations and mentions in social and scientific networks). Total scientific production was 676 papers. A predominance was found of the English language, multiple authorship and publication in SCImago first quartile Journals (n= 655). A high rate of collaboration was observed (67 clusters of authors with co-authorship ratios of 1 to 7). Term co-occurrence analysis yielded 3 broad thematic groups, the main emerging research foci about COVID-19, related to description of the new coronavirus, clinical studies and treatments proposed. 95% of the publications have had at least one mention in social networks and a large number of citations. Production of scientific papers about COVID-19 has increased exponentially. It is characterized by a predominance of scientific collaboration, publication in high-impact Journals and great visibility in social networks. © 2020, Centro Nacional de Informacion de Ciencias Medicas. All rights reserved.

Perception and factors associated with the possibility of treating patients with COVID-19 in recently graduated physicians at Peru

Introduction. Worldwide, including Peru, there is a shortage of human resources to attend for COVID-19 patients, for which reason, newly graduated doctors are being recruited. Material and Methods: Analytical cross-sectional study, using a virtual survey, asked about the possibility of being recruited to care for patients with Coronavirus, as well as other perceptions of this possibility (obtaining a Cronbach's Alpha: 0.86);analytical statistics were obtained. Results: Of 352 respondents, 54% stated that they would accept to be recruited. Multivariate analysis revealed that more fatalistic disease perception takes less be recruited in a hospital (p <0.001);however, if they felt well trained (p <0.001), comfortable supporting in hospitals (p = 0.015), able to provide general care (p <0.001) and could work in a place with many cases (p <0.001);adjusted for two variables. Conclusion: Although there was not a large majority who wanted to be recruited, if this would happen they would have to adapt and they stated that they would be comfortable and trained attending to patients with this pathology.