COVID-19 Pandemic: The Influence of Culture and Lessons for Collaborative Activities.

The rapid epidemiological shift from an epidemic/outbreak in Wuhan, China, to a global pandemic of COVID-19 in less than 3 months came with lessons the world's health system should learn to prepare for the future outbreaks. Since February 20, 2020, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has been increased very slowly in the countries of East Asia, including Japan, South Korea, and China, when compared with those in the Western countries. This chapter begins with an overview of the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers and public health facilities, followed by immediate global actions and research in response to the newly emerged pandemic. It includes an evaluation of the potential influence of culture on the implementation of different protective measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic while at the same time offering suggestions that will make it easier for all populations to adapt protective steps against COVID-19 and other respiratory infectious diseases. Finally, the chapter provides a detailed discussion of lessons we have learned from the pandemic, leading to the conclusion that the transition from individualism to collaborative efforts is the treatment of universal pandemics.

Rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2, replicating or non-replicating, using RT-PCR.

To identify animals susceptible to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection or to determine whether SARS-CoV-2 contaminated meat is from a SARS-CoV-2-infected animal, a convenient and safe method was developed for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 in a replicating or non-replicating status in samples using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). This strategy can also be applied to develop assays for the detection of other viruses, either replicating or not.

Measures for diagnosing and treating infections by a novel coronavirus responsible for a pneumonia outbreak originating in Wuhan, China.

On 10 January 2020, a new coronavirus causing a pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan City in central China was denoted as 2019-nCoV by the World Health Organization (WHO). As of 24 January 2020, there were 887 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV infection, including 26 deaths, reported in China and other countries. Therefore, combating this new virus and stopping the epidemic is a matter of urgency. Here, we focus on advances in research and development of fast diagnosis methods, as well as potential prophylactics and therapeutics to prevent or treat 2019-nCoV infection.

Comparative review of respiratory diseases caused by coronaviruses and influenza A viruses during epidemic season.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to sweep the world, causing infection of millions and death of hundreds of thousands. The respiratory disease that it caused, COVID-19 (stands for coronavirus disease in 2019), has similar clinical symptoms with other two CoV diseases, severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome (SARS and MERS), of which causative viruses are SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, respectively. These three CoVs resulting diseases also share many clinical symptoms with other respiratory diseases caused by influenza A viruses (IAVs). Since both CoVs and IAVs are general pathogens responsible for seasonal cold, in the next few months, during the changing of seasons, clinicians and public heath may have to distinguish COVID-19 pneumonia from other kinds of viral pneumonia. This is a discussion and comparison of the virus structures, transmission characteristics, clinical symptoms, diagnosis, pathological changes, treatment and prevention of the two kinds of viruses, CoVs and IAVs. It hopes to provide information for practitioners in the medical field during the epidemic season.

Lessons learned from the 2019-nCoV epidemic on prevention of future infectious diseases.

Only a month after the outbreak of pneumonia caused by 2019-nCoV, more than forty-thousand people were infected. This put enormous pressure on the Chinese government, medical healthcare provider, and the general public, but also made the international community deeply nervous. On the 25th day after the outbreak, the Chinese government implemented strict traffic restrictions on the area where the 2019-nCoV had originated-Hubei province, whose capital city is Wuhan. Ten days later, the rate of increase of cases in Hubei showed a significant difference (p = 0.0001) compared with the total rate of increase in other provinces of China. These preliminary data suggest the effectiveness of a traffic restriction policy for this pandemic thus far. At the same time, solid financial support and improved research ability, along with network communication technology, also greatly facilitated the application of epidemic prevention measures. These measures were motivated by the need to provide effective treatment of patients, and involved consultation with three major groups in policy formulation-public health experts, the government, and the general public. It was also aided by media and information technology, as well as international cooperation. This experience will provide China and other countries with valuable lessons for quickly coordinating and coping with future public health emergencies.