A bibliometric analysis of personal protective equipment and COVID-19 researches (preprint)

Background: COVID-19, which occurred at the end of December 2019, has evolved into a global public health threat. COVID-19’s high infectivity and mortality prompt governments and scientific community to respond quickly to the outbreak of the pandemic. The application of personal protective equipment (PPE) is of great significance in overcoming the epidemic situation. Although there were many studies about PPE and COVID-19, there is no study about bibliometric analysis of these studies. This study aims to provide a general overview of studies on PPE and COVID-19. Methods: On October 07, 2021, the Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection database was used to identify documents on PPE and COVID-19. HistCite and VOSviewer softwares were used for citation analysis and visualization mapping. Results: A total of 1462 documents authored by 6993 authors and published in 750 journals were included in the final analysis. The most prolific author was Macintyre CR. The USA was the most productive country with 463 published documents. The leading journal was Plos One. Network visualization map showed that USA was the largest international collaboration network. The keyword “COVID-19” had the strongest total link strengths (TLS) and largest number of occurrences. The New England Journal of Medicine was the leading source with highest TLS. The University of Toronto had the highest number of links and the highest TLS. Conclusions: The bibliometric analysis of PPE and COVID-19 provides an overall perspective, and the appreciation and study of these influential publications are very useful for future research.

Predictive Systems Biology Modeling: Unraveling Host Metabolic Disruptions and Potential Drug Targets in SARS-CoV-2 and Its Variants (preprint)

Background: Host response is critical to the onset, progression, and outcome of viral infections. Since viruses hijack the host cellular metabolism for their replications, we hypothesized that restoring host cell metabolism can efficiently reduce viral production. Here, we present a viral-host Metabolic Modeling (vhMM) method to systematically evaluate the disturbances in host metabolism in viral infection and computationally identify targets for modulation by integrating genome-wide precision metabolic modeling and cheminformatics. Results: In SARS-CoV-2 infections, we identified consistent changes in host metabolism and gene and endogenous metabolite targets between the original SARS-COV-2 and different variants (Alpha, Delta, and Omicron). Among six compounds predicted for repurposing, methotrexate, cinnamaldehyde, and deferiprone were tested in vitro and effective in inhibiting viral production with IC50 less than 4uM. Further, an analysis of real-world patient data showed that cinnamon usage significantly reduced the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate with an odds ratio of 0.65 [95%CI: 0.55~0.75]. Conclusions: These results demonstrated that vhMM is an efficient method for predicting targets and drugs for viral infections.

Effects of prone position versus usual care on acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure in patients with COVID‑19: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (preprint)

Background: Previous studies have shown that prone position may be beneficial for the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or acute hypoxic respiratory failure (AHRF) in COVID-19 patients, but the results are not consistent, especially in terms of oxygenation outcomes and intubation rate. This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the effects of prone position on AHRF in COVID-19 patients with all randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: An extensive search of online databases, including MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from December 1, 2019 to October 30, 2022, with no language restrictions. This systematic review and meta-analysis are based on the PRISMA statement and has been registered on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) with the registered ID: CRD42022367885. We only included RCTs and used Cochrane risk assessment tool for quality assessment. Results: Twelve RCTs fulfilled the selection criteria and 3154 patients were included. Meta-analysis found that patients in prone position group had more significant improvement in the SpO2/FiO2 ratio (mean difference [MD]: 29.76; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.39 to 48.13; P=0.001) compared with usual care. Prone position also reduced the need for intubation (odd ratio [OR]: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.62 to 0.85; P＜0.0001; I2=0%). There was no significant difference in mortality, hospital length of stay, incidence of intensive care unit (ICU) admission and adverse events between the two groups. Conclusions: Prone position was a promising intervention method, which is beneficial to improve the oxygenation of patients with ARDS or AHRF caused by COVID-19 and can reduce the need for intubation. However, prone position had no significant difference in mortality, hospital length of stay, incidence of ICU admission and adverse events.

Prevalence and Influencing Factors of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms Amongst Surgical Nurses During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Large-Scale Cross-Sectional Study (preprint)

BackgroundThe outbreak of novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has imposed an enormous physical and psychological pressure on people across the world. This study focused on evaluating the prevalence and influencing factors of anxiety and depression symptoms in surgical nurses during the epidemic in China. MethodA cross-sectional, multicenter quantitative study was conducted in Anhui province (China) from March 3, 2020 to March 19, 2020, with a questionnaire package which consisted of general information questionnaire，Zung's self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), Zung's self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) and social support rating scale (SSRS). A total of 3600 surgical nurses participated in the survey by Wechat and QQ. Data were analysed using multiple linear regression models. ResultsA total of 3492 surgical nurses from 12tertiary hospitals and 12 secondary hospitals in one province of mainland China completed the survey. The prevalence rates of anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms were 24.83% and 22.39%, respectively. The average level of anxiety and depression of surgical nurses were higher than that of the Chinese norm (P< 0.05).Levels of social support for surgical nurses were significantly negatively associated with the degree of anxiety (r = -0.630, P < 0.001) and depression (r = -0.578, P < 0.001). Fertility status (β = 1.469, P = 0.003), hospital (β = -0.611, P < 0.001), participation in care for COVID-19 patients (β = 2.229, P < 0.001), likelihood of being infected with COVID-19 (β = 1.146, P < 0.001), social support (β = -0.623, P < 0.001) were significantly influencing surgical nurses’ anxiety degree. Similarly, these characteristics were significantly associated with the odds of experiencing depression symptoms in surgical nurses. Divorce and widowed surgical nurses (β = -2.654, P < 0.001) were significantly more likely to experience depressive symptoms than single nurses. ConclusionIn this survey, we found that the surgical nurses had high anxiety and depression symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. The findings suggest that targeted psychological interventions to promote the mental health of surgical nurses with psychological problems need to be immediately implemented. 

Analysis of the management measures and effects in prevention and control of COVID-19 in outpatient service of a general hospital / 医学研究生学报

To preliminarily analyze the prevention and control of COVID-19, a general hospital outpatient service took six management measures, including setting up a leading group, building rules and regulations, infection control and supervision, special training, humanized service, public opinion propaganda. After nearly two months, the rates of both body temperature monitoring and epidemiological history screening are 100%, the medical staff infection rate is zero, and no cross infection between the patients due to adopting outpatient service comprehensive management measures which had strong organization and leadership, effective targeted training, effective control of all links in epidemic prevention and control work. During the fight against COVID-19, outpatient management played an important role in hospital management. The above approaches provide valuable experience for preventing the spread of infectious diseases effectively and winning the biological weapon wars in the future.